Through the Eyes of a Cook
by WinglessCrows
Summary: A series of somewhat connected one-shots about Sanji, food and his nakama, whom he cook for. (All chapters contain a time stamp, so you can avoid spoilers if you are not up-to-date with the manga) Chapter 48: Compliments
1. How is Kiwi like Venison and Whale?

**Okay, so I'm not entirely sure how these will work out. It started out as a drabble, but now I have something else, so I'll let you decide what to make of it.**

 **No pairings, just pure nakamaship. I'll make sure to put a time for every story so that people who are not caught up won't get spoiled.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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How is Kiwi like Venison and Whale?

Sanji was a busy man. He worked from dawn to dusk, making sure his friends would never go hungry. He put blood, sweat and tears into his cooking, though not literally thankfully, and he hardly had a chance to catch his breath. There were the three main meals, which always had food for thirty people, because his Captain could easily eat what twenty normal people ate in one go. Between the meals there were always requests for snacks and drinks, and they always had to match the weather of the Grand Line. If it snowed, he served warm drinks and if the sun was burning them up, he cooled them down with ice cream.

Of course not everybody liked the same things, so Sanji had to adapt to that too. Some were easy to satisfy. Chopper liked things sweet and Robin liked things that had a slightly bitter edge. Franky liked cola... in any variation, which Sanji had found really fun to incorporate into various things. His big breakthrough had been making cola-flavored ice cream, which not only tasted like a cool cola, but had the same fizzyness to it, without it seeming weird.

Other crew members were a bit harder to satisfy. Nami usually liked things very fresh, so fruit drinks and cakes were usually what she wanted, but not always. If Nami had an especially taxing day, where she either hadn't been able to finish drawing her maps or the weather had just changed one too many times for her liking, she usually wanted something with a bit of a kick. An Irish coffee would usually do the trick, but sometimes she would come to the kitchen, not knowing what she wanted and Sanji had to be careful in choosing what to cook for her. The thing with Nami, when she was stressed out, was that if you got on her bad side, she was sure to punch you and unlike Luffy, Sanji wasn't made of rubber, so he greatly preferred keeping her happy. And of course, she was a woman so she only deserved the best of the best.

Another difficult one was Zoro. One would think that he would be happy with anything as long as it involved alcohol, and generally he was, but Sanji was the cook and there was no way he was letting a crewmate live of alcohol alone, even if it was the shitty swordsman. In the end, Sanji filled out a whole notebook with snacks and drinks made especially to Zoro's liking. Many of them gave the impression of having alcohol in them, but were in actuality virgin drinks or snacks. Some of them had a minimal amount of alcohol and Sanji made sure to only use these once or twice a week, since the Marimo was already drinking a lot. He also had Chopper spy for him, noting every day what kind of training he was doing, so that Sanji could give him an after-work-out meal that gave him the exact nutrients he needed. This was sometimes a joint effort, since Chopper was always worried about Zoro over working himself, so he often requested for Sanji to incorporate some special vitamins and supplements into the food.

So, yes, Sanji was a busy man and he absolutely loved it. He was a cook through and through, he loved his job and he loved his crew. There simply wasn't any place that Sanji would rather be than right here, doing what he loved, surrounded by people he loved... And usually when a person find themselves in such situations, one starts to notice things.

As Sanji travelled with the Strawhats he slowly began to learn more about them through the food he served them and occasionally the food they served him.

Luffy was glutton. Simple fact. He could eat more than the rest of the crew combined and he loved food just as much as Sanji, just in a slightly different way, but having Luffy meant that nothing would ever go to waste. Luffy ate everything, which is why the day Luffy came back with a plate containing the afternoon snack Sanji had just made for the crew, saying that he didn't want to eat it, Sanji got extremely worried. Usually when people told Sanji that they didn't want to eat something, he would kick them and then force them to eat it, but Luffy not wanting food that meant that something was wrong.

Sanji had dropped the plate that he had been washing and it smashed into three neat pieces, but Sanji really couldn't care less about the plates, even if Nami had been the one to buy them. He had put a hand on Luffy's forehead and asked him how he felt, while checking his body for any signs of illness. And Luffy laughed.

"Luffy!" Sanji had exclaimed for a lack of words. He was still worried, but now also confused.

"I'm fine, I'm fine, I just can't eat the food. But I know that you don't want to waste food, so maybe you could save it for someone else?"

"I can but... No! Wait, that's not the issue here! Why can't you eat it."

"Because I don't want to waste it," Luffy said as if that was the obvious answer and Sanji just didn't understand.

"But you wouldn't waste it if you ate it?" Sanji said, now completely doubting himself not knowing where Luffy was going with this.

"I would waste it, because I would eat it, but then it would come back up and it would be wasted."

"So you are sick!" Sanji exclaimed and almost called for Chopper, because he was pretty sure having an ill Captain would leave the crew in a very bad place and this wasn't good for Sanji's heart.

"I'm not sick." Luffy simply said and turned to leave, but Sanji grabbed hold of him, because either Luffy was lying, which was very unlikely since Luffy was as good a liar as Zoro was a navigator, or Luffy was hiding something, however unintentionally that might be.

"If you're not sick, then why can't you eat it? Is it bad? Don't you like it?" Sanji said, now suddenly afraid that he, as a cook, had made something that _Luffy_ didn't like. And Luffy being Luffy seemed very quick to pick up on this small fear of his.

"Everyone says it tastes really good, but it has Kiwi in it, so I can't eat it," Luffy said and smiled that killer smile of his that just melted Sanji's heart every time. But now Sanji also understood.

"So you're saying that you are allergic to Kiwi?"

Luffy made a little noise that told Sanji that he was spot on and he went back to the kitchen, leaving all the dirty dishes and opened the fridge. "Then how about I make you something else? A special treat for the Pirate King to be."

At that Luffy's eyes beamed and he was very quick to take a place by the counter. Sanji then spend a little too long making the snack for Luffy, which ended up delaying dinner, but it was all worth it, because Luffy had been smiling the entire time and that meant the world to Sanji.

The following day, Sanji had been made sure to ask the remaining crew members if they had any allergies he was unaware of and, very thankfully, none of them did which meant that the only new thing Sanji had to stay clear from was Kiwi. This was the third item added to the things Sanji would only cook in very extreme circumstances. The first two being venison and whale.

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 **I don't know why I've always had this weird headcannon that Luffy is allergic to kiwi, which is the weirdest and most irrelevant thing, but yeah... Please fave if you liked it, follow for more and leave a review to let me know what you thought :3**


	2. Early Start, Cold Morning and Hot Drinks

**Look how quick I'm uploading these! They are super fun to write, so I hope you enjoy them too. There is no real timeline to these stories, but this chapter is set after Dressrosa, though other than that it could literally be at any point in time.**

 **Edit: Changed some things because apparently people weren't understanding what I wanted to show in this chapter, though I have tried to keep it as close to the original version as possible. (Also got rid of all the typos I picked up on)**

 **Story set: After Dressrosa**

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An early start, a cold morning and a hot drink

Anyone who spend ten seconds in the same room as Zoro and Sanji would know that their relationship wasn't exactly rooted in love and kind affection. They fought most of the time, whether that be verbally or physically. They also seemed to disagree on so many basic things that people outside of the Strawhats found it hard to believe that they could function as part of the same crew. But there were moments of peace between them. Granted, they were rare, but they existed and they occurred only when the following three things happened simultaneously. 1) Zoro had to be the second person to wake up, only rising after Sanji, who was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. 2) It had to be cold enough for Zoro not wanting to train so early in the morning, thus making him go to the kitchen, which always had a nice temperature and 3) Sanji had to be aware of the first two things before Zoro, so that he could welcome Zoro with a hot drink. Sanji had gotten quite good at fulfilling the last condition, because he had grown tired of Zoro interrupting the quiet, which was a luxury only the morning brought.

The first time all three conditions had been fulfilled was the first time Sanji had acknowledged Zoro's strength as something far greater than his own. And all Zoro had to do to make Sanji admit it (to himself, and only to himself) was to be there. During the entire morning, from the moment Zoro had walked in and gotten a drink from Sanji to the moment he left with the others after breakfast, Zoro had been quiet. He had only talked to Luffy once he arrived, and in the time where nothing happened, he had tended to his swords, yet Sanji knew. He knew that Zoro was somewhere he couldn't reach and he knew that Luffy was lucky to have him as a loyal first mate. And it seemed that Luffy knew this as well, because halfway during the meal, he stopped eating, looked Sanji in the eye and said without any words: _Isn't Zoro strong?_ And Sanji agreed. Sanji had always known that Zoro was strong and he had been quick to acknowledge that the only one was stronger than Zoro was their Captain, but this was the first time he had truly understood Zoro's strength. The strength that Luffy relied on whenever he needed someone beside him or whenever he was bragging about how strong his crew was, because believe or not, Luffy liked to brag about his friends.

Keep in mind, when Sanji called Zoro strong, he didn't actually refer to his physical strength. As much as there was no doubt that Zoro was unnaturally strong, Sanji also knew that he stood his equal. The strength that separated the two of them was something entirely different. It was something that Sanji couldn't quite put into words, yet he found it so easy to understand and he wondered why he hadn't noticed it sooner.

It wasn't just a random revelation that came out of nowhere though. They had entered a part of the Grand Line which was known as the Hunter's nest, because of its low waters and great amount of small rocky islands that covered a few days of travel. This then made it a perfect place for an ambush and the amount of bounty hunters which took advantages of this was ridiculously high. Now, the Strawhats weren't exactly known for their good luck and fortune, but they had now been stuck in this rocky hell for more than a week and it was starting to have an effect on the crew.

In the beginning it had actually been a lot of fun for everyone, because none of these bounty hunters, no matter how many came at once, posed any real threat to the mighty pirates of the Strawhat crew. Luffy, Zoro and Sanji loved a good fight and all of them had eagerly been awaiting one for some time. Therefore the first attack had quickly been handled by the three of them, while the others had just calmly put money on how many hunters each of them could take down. To Nami's great disappointment she had been really close, only being one off on Zoro and Sanji, while Usopp had been spot on on all three of them. She had, of course, been mad at him for the rest of the day.

The next few days they had been using the bounty hunters as some sort of training exercise. Some just wanted to try out a few new moves and some had very definite goals. One of those people was Usopp, who wanted to increase his accuracy over much longer distances than previously. This had seemed ambitious to Sanji, not because Usopp wasn't good, in fact it was quite the opposite. Usopp was such a skilled sniper that Sanji found it hard to imagine how much better he could get, after all there was a limited to how far the human eye could see and a limit to how far his weapons could actually shoot. Sanji remembered only all too well, when Usopp had been standing on top of the Tower of Justice, shooting down enemies to free Robin, while the marines stood by helplessly, as their rifles had no way of reaching the sniper... And that was two years ago, so when Usopp during the third ambush, if it could be called an ambush at this point, completed his goal, Sanji had let curiosity get the better of him and asked Usopp how he had managed to get it done so quickly. And _boy_ was Sanji in for a treat.

Usopp revealed to him that with a lot of theoretical reading, a few pointers from Franky and a whole lot of failing and adjusting accordingly, Usopp had made his slingshot one of the most advanced pieces of weaponry Sanji had ever heard of. It had been made of a light, but strong material, which Sanji honestly couldn't remember the name of, which made it easy for Usopp to control even during a long battle with all the worst conditions possible. The sling itself was crafted from a home made rubber mixture, which Usopp said had been inspired by Luffy and the way his body seemed to work. This allowed for a faster release, making the maximum distance reach further than the best gun found in all of the seven seas. Usopp had also used his extensive knowledge of dials for various things. He used wind dials to increase accuracy and speed. He used fire dials to increase the scale of the impact. He used heat dials to create a disturbance in the air that was just big enough to throw other snipers off and he used impact dials if he need something extra destructive. There were a few other details which kind of just went over Sanji's head, but he understood the effort Usopp had put into this weapon.

The slingshot aside, Sanji learned that Usopp had observation Haki. Apparently he had unlocked it in a very critical moment during the events of Dressrosa. He had then slowly been trying to use this power more consciously and with greater control ever since they had left the island to chase after the curly-hat pirates. After Sanji had processed the fact that Usopp had been the next person to unlock Haki on the crew, he gave him a few pieces of advice, since observation Haki was his speciality. The two of them had ended up talking through the night, leaving both of them out of the action the following day.

As the days dragged on and the attacks didn't die down, the strawhats found themselves in great need of a break. They were fighting big groups of people at least twice a day and though the bounty hunters didn't get stronger, the strawhats could feel themselves growing tired. It came to a point where no one got a good nights sleep, because they needed to be aware and alert at all times and in case of an emergency, aka someone actually strong showing up, no one wanted to wear Luffy and Zoro out by having them take care of it every time. Sanji was already one of the people who barely got enough sleep due to his job as a cook and with all the attacks happening, Sanji spent extra long on the meals, optimizing their energy intake with the food they had left. So on the tenth day, when it was snowing enough for Luffy to build a giant out of snow and Zoro woke up early, Sanji was tired and feeling on edge. He was fearing that an attack would wake up the crew, thus denying them the sleep they needed, but then Zoro walked in, got his drink and Sanji felt strangely at ease.

Nami had once told Vivi that when travelling with the Strawhats, one's worries seemed to go away and now Sanji understood. What the crew did to outsiders (whom they liked), Zoro did to the Strawhats. Sanji had been there when Zoro had lost to Mihawk and had declared that from that day forth, he would never lose again. Sanji had always thought that that was a dumb statement. Everyone loses once in a while that's just how life works and loss helps you grow, but here Zoro was and after two years, Sanji finally believed those words. Zoro was like a rock. Strong, steadfast and always standing no matter how much the forces of nature tried to break him. He was the person the Luffy relied on in times of weakness and the one who had his back in times of strength. Luffy was their Captain, their leader and ultimately the one holding everything together, but he could only do so with Zoro by his side and everyone understood that. So when Zoro is calm, collected and ready for the next attack everyone can relax, because that means that both Zoro and Luffy are ready for another fight, so there is nothing to worry about.

And the next time Zoro wakes up early on a cold morning, Sanji has his drink ready and though they exchange no words Sanji feels at peace and ready for whatever the world wants to throw at them that day, because Zoro is there and Zoro is strong.

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 **So, what do you think? Let me know! And please fave if you liked it and follow for more chapters 3 I'll probably upload the next one tomorrow though.**


	3. I don't have to Pay for the Cake?

**This is still a no-romance story, but that doesn't mean that Sanji doesn't like his women and that they can't take advantage of that ;)**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Are you sure I don't have to pay for the cake?

Sanji sleepily opened his eyes and immediately noticed that he had overslept. He slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Using his observation Haki he quickly confirmed everyone's well being as well as he could, and determined that there were in fact no one but them on the ship. So Sanji wondered, why had no one woken him up? It was usual routine that Sanji got up at 5 am to prepare breakfast and his internal clock usually never failed him, but just in case it did, someone would wake him up. It would usually be the person on watch, which on this night had been Robin, so it would not have been all that difficult for her to check up on him.

The men's quarters were quieter than usual. Luffy wasn't snoring nor talking in his sleep, which meant that he was still recovering from their last fight. It had involved a strong enemy and Luffy being a little too Luffy and ending up in the water, though still insisting to finish off the enemy after Sanji had so kindly rescued him and made sure he was breathing properly. He would be fine come morning, but he just needed a little extra rest. Zoro was 'sleeping' in the hammock beneath Luffy. He was no doubt making sure that Luffy got his rest and was ready to take on any threat that would wake Luffy from his quiet slumber. Sanji knew that if anyone were to wake up Luffy they would be cut in pieces so fast that they wouldn't even be able to apologize. Sanji mentally sighed. Zoro was just way too protective when it came to Luffy. Was he unaware of the fact that their Captain was a fucking monster?

Sanji scanned the room. Both Franky and Brook were no one where to be seen, but he could guess that Franky was assessing the condition of the ship post-battle now that it was light out. Brook was an early riser, usually up only half an hour after himself, playing soothing tones that were pleasant to work to. Chopper was lying in the hammock next to Zoro, ready if Zoro woke him to give an unexpected update on Luffy. Usopp was in the hammock above Chopper and beside Luffy wide awake. At first Sanji wondered what he was doing, but after having watched for a minute it occurred to him that Usopp was sketching. Usopp was a skilled artist and he practised almost every day. Sanji had been told that Usopp had been the one to make their first flag and considering the symbol Laboon had on his head, Sanji was thankful for that skill. After a few moments Usopp seemed to notice that someone was watching and turned his head to Sanji. First he looked slightly surprised and then he lifted his eyebrows as if asking: _shouldn't you be making breakfast?_ To which Sanji tilted his head and closed his eyes, replying: _I should_. He then quietly left for the kitchen, careful not to wake Luffy and invoke the swordsman's wrath.

He was greeted by Brook, who wished him a good morning and asked if he wanted to request a song. Usually Sanji was fine with all of Brook's songs, but today was a special day, so he asked if he would play _Ocean Blue_ , a song he had learned to play on piano back when the Baratie still had a piano and Sanji was still a chef in training. Of course as the years passed, Sanji was always to busy to play the piano and only played during free time. And one day, because the Baratie is what it is, the piano had been crushed in a fight and no one had bothered to invest in a new one. But the song still had a special place in Sanji's heart. When Brook started playing, Sanji closed his eyes and for a moment imagined that he was back on the Baratie, where he had spent half his life and had learned the way of a chef on the sea.

Now, there was only an hour left until it was time for breakfast and Sanji still hadn't started. It wasn't going to be much of a disaster, because he had made some preparations the night before and Luffy would be sleeping until it was time for lunch, where Sanji would serve him an extra big meal with extra meat, but that was for later. Sanji calmly strolled towards the kitchen only to find that the door was locked. This took Sanji aback for a second, because the door to the kitchen didn't have a lock. The fridge had a lock, but not the kitchen. Sanji didn't want to deny anyone a midnight snack if they needed it, he just wouldn't let them eat everything, so he had requested for a lock for the fridge, but not the kitchen. Sanji was of course aware of the fact that Franky was awake and making a lock on a door that he had made to begin with would probably not take the man more than thirty seconds, because that cyborg was just freakishly fast at building stuff, but why would the kitchen need a lock? And why was it used to keep the cook out of the kitchen? Sanji couldn't really figure it out.

One thing that Sanji _could_ figure out was who was inside the kitchen. Luffy, Zoro, Usopp and Chopper were in the men's quarters, Brook was playing music on deck for everyone to hear, Franky was in his workplace, where Sanji could hear some sort of hammering going on and Robin was in the crow's nest most likely reading a book. This meant that Nami was in the kitchen, preventing Sanji from entering by locking the door with a lock that she must have made Franky make within the last five hours... why? Sanji couldn't for the life of him figure it out, so he tried knocking on the door, because Franky would murder him he damaged the ship and Nami would murder him if he entered a room that very specifically had Nami saying: _Don't enter!_ So he knocked and when nothing happened he knocked again.

"Nami-san?" he tried without raising his voice and still nothing, so he tried again a bit louder and then again and again, until he was afraid to go louder in case Luffy woke up and Zoro killed him as a result. Sanji was now wondering how he could make breakfast in time, when Nami suddenly opened the door, got out of the kitchen and closed the door again, so fast that Sanji couldn't see what was going on inside.

"Nami-san?" Sanji asked again wanting to know what the hell was going on, but as soon as Nami smiled, he knew that she would be giving him no answers... at least not yet.

"It's all fine, Sanji-kun, don't worry. I took care of breakfast, so you just go enjoy the morning." She turned him around and gently pushed him further away from the kitchen, to which he tried to protest, but she wouldn't have it. When she assessed that he was far enough away, she turned around and disappeared back into the kitchen, not letting Sanji offer his help or even say another word.

"Thanks... I guess," Sanji muttered to no one as he went to the library, picked up one of Nami's books that he had been wanting to read for a while and found a nice spot on the railing with almost no wind and the only sound being the sweet tunes of Brook's violin.

When the time for breakfast arrived everyone was up and about, except for Zoro and Luffy, and Nami called that it was time to eat, which confused the ones who had yet to notice that Sanji was not the one in the kitchen. This earned him a few confused gazes to which he had nothing to say, because he still didn't know why he hadn't been allowed to make the breakfast.

The food was good, it wasn't Sanji-level good, but it was still better than most meals made by third-rate chefs. Sanji could only imagine Nami had gained this skill through years of living by herself, which made Sanji a bit sad to think about, but he also looked at her now and remembered how much further she had come since Luffy had defeated Arlong and she had been freed from her horrible life. Sanji looked at Nami and smiled... She slapped him as a result.

Breakfast passed quickly and peacefully (As peaceful as the strawhats could muster, which in all honesty wasn't very peaceful). Nami gave an update on their travels, informing them that they should be reaching a spring island within three days if the weather didn't go too bad. Franky assured them that the ship had only taken minimum damage and he had finished all the repairs this morning, so there was nothing to worry about. Chopper told them of Luffy's condition and said that as long as they let him sleep he would be fine. Apparently, the reason he had taken any damage at all was because he had kept fighting before he had gotten all the water out of his lungs, but Chopper had treated him and now sleep was finishing the job. Sanji had taken a plate of food aside for Zoro and told Usopp to bring it to him and make sure he eat it. Zoro had a bad habit of not eating when Luffy wasn't well, but Usopp seemed to be able to make him eat by telling him stuff like: _Luffy would want you to eat_ and _what if someone tried to kill Luffy and you were too hungry to fight?_ Sanji wasn't quite sure why Usopp was the only one who could say things like that and get away with it, but he made the stupid swordsman eat and that was all Sanji asked for.

Soon enough, the kitchen cleared and Sanji was left alone with Nami who was silently drinking a cup of tea, while finishing the inking of her last map. Nami would often come to the kitchen to draw her maps, because it seemed that Nami and Sanji being in the same room kept people from interrupting them for whatever reason. After Sanji had cleaned everything, he estimated that he could wait about an hour until he would need to start preparing lunch, so he made another pot of tea and continued reading the book he had started that same morning. It wasn't unusual for Sanji and Nami to quietly be in the same room, though unlike with Zoro, Sanji did like to talk to Nami, whenever they found themselves together in the kitchen. But right now she was working and he could do with a peaceful and quiet day, though he was sure it wasn't going to last knowing his friends and their... tendencies.

After half an hour Nami seemed to be done and was just letting the ink dry, so Sanji thought that this might be the perfect time to ask her about the morning, so he marked the page he was on and went for it.

"Nami-san, why-" he was interrupted.

"Today is your birthday, right?" She asked, though it didn't really feel like a question. She was sitting opposite him, with her head slightly tilted and resting on her hand. Sanji wasn't sure if he was being interrogated or having a conversation with a friend.

"How did you know? I'm pretty sure I haven't told anyone." It wasn't that he didn't want anyone to know that it was his birthday, but Luffy would take any excuse to throw a party and as much as Sanji liked parties, he wanted a peaceful birthday and since it would be Franky's birthday the week after his, he saw no need to tell anyone.

"I know a lot of things," she simply said and then she got up, "I made something for you, free of charge and everything."

Nami walked to the oven, brought out a cupcake and placed it in front of him. "It has a chocolate chip base and orange frosting," she said and, like the thief she was, she slipped her fingers into his pocket to steal his lighter without him noticing before she was holding it in front of him with that little smug smile of hers. She then lit a candle and placed it on top of the cake.

"Happy Birthday Sanji," she said and kissed him on the cheek. Sanji was so happy he could die.

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 **I'm pretty sure that a kiss from Nami is all that Sanji could ever wish for. Please fave if you liked it, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts, and I'll see you again tomorrow, bye x**


	4. The Best Kind of Soup

**Aaaand here is another chapter! And it's even longer than the others, what?! This was also my favorite to write so far 3**

 **Special shout out to YunisuKozakura who has been reviewing every chapter so far. You are awesome!**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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The best kind of soup

Sanji had begun to feel dizzy about an hour before dinner and he silently cursed his luck and began preparing food for the next few days. One of the cons of having a crew with very few members was that if someone got ill or injured, it was hard to find a replacement. Some roles could be done without for a couple of days, but there were three people whom everyone always prayed would never even catch a cold. Nami the navigator, Chopper the doctor and Sanji the cook. The one time Nami had fallen ill and they had had no doctor had been a complete nightmare and only the gods could know what would have happened if Vivi had not been around.

Luckily Sanji was not the only one on the crew who could cook, but the people who could (Nami, Robin and Usopp) had to take time off their own jobs to do Sanji's. Sanji wasn't all too fond of the idea of taking time away from his precious women, especially Nami who had a very taxing job to begin with, and Usopp was already a hard worker who spent hours and hours everyday honing and polishing his skills. Even in Usopp's free time he was eager to help Sanji by fishing with whomever had extra time on their hands (Usually Luffy) to fill their tank for Sanji to use. Robin's job was quite inconsistent, so it wasn't a problem for her to take a break for it, because she could easily catch up on lost work. But her alone wasn't enough, when you had to prepare food for eight people and Luffy.

So Sanji made sure that the work they had to do, when he eventually collapsed from... whatever this illness was, was minimum. The only problem was that they were running low on food and the best way to optimize ingredients was to prepare them only right before consumption. Therefore Sanji had to make a few sacrifices here and there, and hope that the weather would stabilize sooner rather than later in order for them to restock on the next island.

When dinner came by, Sanji was having a hard time pretending to be fine and ended up doing the dishes while some were still eating, just to avoid showing his face, which he was sure was flushed and sweaty due to fever. He somehow made it through dinner without anyone commenting on his strange behaviour and soon enough the kitchen cleared and Sanji found the biggest pot he owned and started preparing a stew that should get them through at least two days, even with Luffy eating a little extra. Although Luffy was surprisingly good at minimizing food intake when they were running low on food. Luffy would have eaten the exact same amount of food as everyone else had it not been for Sanji and Chopper forcing him to eat more.

This might seem strange as Luffy was rather small compared to literally every other pirate in the world and it seemed like he could live on a regular sized meal, but Sanji knew better. Luffy was always moving around and, believe it or not, stretching was just as taxing as running was. Since Luffy had had his powers almost his entire life, he was so used to always using it that it was hard to make him stop, which consequently meant that he needed more food than everyone else. And of course, he was the Captain and their strongest fighter, so in case of an enemy attack, Luffy always had to be in his best condition.

When Sanji had made all the preparations he possibly could in the kitchen (by making a stew and various other dishes that wouldn't spoil if kept in the fridge), he was sure that even if no one was cooking, they could at least survive for three days and with a few people in the kitchen, they should be good for five or six, which would give Sanji plenty of time to recover. By now, he was hardly standing and his throat was sore, so he made himself a big cup of tea and wrote down how to prepare and serve the food to properly ration it without starving anyone. He also wrote his easiest-to-follow recipes, so no one panicked when they eventually ran out of Sanji-prepared food. When Sanji had successfully done everything he could, he finally allowed the illness to take hold and he collapsed.

Sanji was lying on the floor of the kitchen and compared to when he had been forcing himself to work with a fever, he was rather comfortable. He hadn't exactly passed out, but he wouldn't call this being awake either. It was like he was aware of his surroundings, but everything was blurry and confusing and sometimes it was like the furniture around him was moving, but he forced himself to at least stay awake until someone found him, just so that he could tell them of his preparations. Sanji wasn't really in the mood to move, but he did manage to drag his body across the floor just enough for him to keep a look on the door, waiting for someone who wanted a late night drink.

Sanji was greatly annoyed when Zoro happened to be the one to come strolling in, no doubt wanting saké, but the look on Zoro's face when he noticed Sanji collapsed on the floor was priceless and Sanji wondered if he would have made that face two years ago. Zoro was quick to call for Chopper and knelt beside Sanji to determine what was wrong... as if it wasn't obvious.

"Marimo..." Sanji panted and found that talking was painful and taxing, "table... note" he tried, hoping that Zoro's tiny brain would understand. At this point he didn't even have the energy to keep his eyes open, but he could still hear and feel... though he mostly felt pain and exhaustion. He was faintly aware that Zoro had found the note and that he was also checking for a fever, which just meant that he wasn't actually reading the goddamn thing. He then heard the sound of Chopper's hurried steps and his name being shouted, which was sure to be drawing attention.

"He has a fever," Zoro told Chopper possibly trying to be some sort of helpful. Next he heard heels, making him pretty sure that it Nami had walked in and true enough... "Sanji-kun!" he heard her exclaim, sounding concerned. Ah, yes, the one saving grace of this illness was Nami-san being worried for him. Sanji heard Nami asking what was going on and Chopper began explaining that he was ill with... what now? Sanji couldn't really comprehend all the fancy word Chopper used, but he did catch that he should be fine within five days, so unless someone stole all their food, starvation was no threat. Thank god!

When the sounds around Sanji had begun to melt into one, he finally drifted away into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Sanji woke up in the Sick Bay at who-knew-what-time and tried to sit up, but gave up when his head started spinning. He then noticed a damp cloth resting on his forehead. It was still cool, meaning it couldn't have been placed there long ago and it felt nice and cold on his burning forehead. He had been stripped of his usual attire and found himself in a pair of shorts and a light shirt, which he didn't remember owning, but he was quite thankful for the change. There was light shining from the window, meaning that he had at least slept through the night and possibly multiple nights, but, again, how would he know? He figured it was a good thing though. He had once heard that rest was the best medicine... or something like that. He kind of wanted to go back to sleep, but he was dying for some water to calm his burning throat. He also thought that it was unusual for Chopper to leave a patient alone, but he figured that even Chopper had to eat and such, so he didn't blame him. And it wasn't like he was dying.

It wasn't long before Chopper came through the door carrying a basket of.. green stuff? Chopper immediately noticed that he was awake and did a quick check-up.

"How are you feeling?" Chopper asked, and it occurred to Sanji that this was the first time he had been around Chopper while he was being doctor-like... at least in a conscious state.

"...Hot...cold..." Sanji said, because he was finding this sweating a lot with a burning head and a cold body very discomforting, but even more than that: "...thirsty."

"Of course," Chopper said and transformed into his bigger form to help Sanji sit and gave him some water. He then went on to explain what kind of illness it was and how there was no danger and it was very common and all of those things which Sanji just forgot seconds after hearing them. When Chopper was done talking and Sanji had consumed at least two litres of water, he went right back to sleep.

* * *

The second time he woke up it was night and Chopper was in the room, but sleeping in the bed opposite Sanji. Sanji quickly took a glass of water, because damn did he need it (He even managed to sit up by himself, victory!). It was then that he noticed the small note by the table, and he thanked the heavens for moonlight.

 _Eat before drinking all the water ~ Chopper_

There was a small green ball of something on the table and as soon as Sanji put it in his mouth, he wanted to spit it out. Sanji had had medicine before and he had had spoiled food, but this thing really took the cake. Screw what all the ability users said, this had to taste worse than a devil fruit. Sanji was glad that he hadn't drunk all the water before reading the note, because he really needed that water now. Sanji collapsed when he ran out of water. (To this day Chopper still claims that the devil fruit tasted worse)

* * *

He woke up again to the sound of talking. He couldn't make out any words, but it was a very comforting sound. It was like the sound of a party with all the people you loved. You didn't listen to a particular conversation, but you understood that they were having a good time. The talking didn't sound at all like a party, it was more like a friendly, peaceful chat. He could hear Luffy the best. Perhaps because he was sitting closest to the Sick Bay (Luffy and Zoro were the only ones with a fixed seat. Luffy by the end, so that he could look at all of his friends and Zoro by his right hand where he belonged), perhaps because he was the loudest or maybe because Sanji found comfort in his voice and sought it out.

He was feeling thirsty again, but this time he actually had the energy to sit up by himself and not get crazily dizzy afterwards. As he reached for the water on the table by his bed, he also found another note and a weird device with a button. He decided that before he could find it in him to read, he had to drink, because he was burning up and his throat was somehow drier than before. After successfully drinking all the water Chopper had put out for him, he read the note, which happened to not be from Chopper

 _If warm, press button ~ Super gift from Franky and Usopp_

Sanji smiled and pressed the button. From the ceiling above came a cool breeze of air, which felt nice on Sanji's warm skin. Franky and Usopp had set up three breath dials on the ceiling and filled them with cool air, which could be activated with a remote. Sanji just had the most amazing friends. He fell asleep again, but this time he wasn't feeling like a human torch.

* * *

The fourth time Sanji woke up, he was no longer feeling too hot or too cold and his throat was better. Although he was still light-headed and weak, at least he was recovering and that was a good start. It was also this time he noticed that he was hungry... really hungry. Since he couldn't very well go to the kitchen, his first instinct was to grab a cigarette to dull the hunger, but he had no doubt that him smoking was something that Chopper did not want him doing, so he didn't even bother trying to find his pack. He had been cutting down lately and only smoked when he felt particularly stressed, but he really wanted one right now... or some food. The thing with food though was that he knew that he would not be able to keep it down and smoking would mean not wasting any of the food they had left. He ended up settling for a glass of water.

A few moments later Usopp walked in carrying a tray. "How are you feeling?" he asked when he saw that he was awake and left the door open behind him.

"Better," Sanji said, not wanting to talk too much.

"Good, it's weird without you," Usopp put down the tray and seated himself on the edge of the bed.

"Is that so?" Sanji asked, wanting whatever update he could get. Weird as it sounded, he missed his friends.

"Yeah, you should have seen Luffy when he heard that Zoro had found you collapsed in the kitchen. He was so worried he cried until Chopper explained that it wasn't as bad as Zoro had made it seem. Luffy had somehow gotten the impression that you were dying or something... Jeez, talk about overreacting. He wanted to stay until you woke up, but Chopper and Zoro convinced him that you wouldn't want him to be missing out on both sleep and your food, though Brook had to help put him to sleep... Luffy cares so much, I sometimes wonder how people can hate him."

Sanji smiled and agreed. Their captain sure was special.

"Zoro has also taken to it quite badly, although he isn't as verbal about it as Luffy. I think he misses his sparring partner."

Sanji laughed lightly at that. Who would have thought?

"Nami and I are in charge of food now and Robin is covering navigation, but you sure have made it easy for us. Did you know you were gonna get sick? There was so much prepared food and with instructions too."

"I felt dizzy and adjusted to the situation... I am the cook after all."

"Y'know... Chopper said that part of the reason you collapsed was because you didn't get enough rest..."

"...?" Sanji looked at him with questioning eyes.

"You and Nami are the only ones who are required to work all day, but on top of that, you are also one of our strongest fighters. The more I think about it, the more I notice how much harder you work... it's like you have two jobs while the rest of us just have one."

Sanji had never thought of it like that, since he had been raised as a cook of the Baratie where you would only work (and survive) if you could fight. However, when Usopp put it like that, Sanji could see where he was going, but still... he was missing something.

"I work just as hard as everyone else..." he said, "it's just different."

Now it was Usopp's turn to look confused, and Sanji wanted to elaborate, but his throat was protesting, so he tried to keep it short.

"Everyone works hard in their own way," he tried, hoping Usopp would understand. It looked like he did, but that didn't mean that he was done scolding him for not getting enough rest.

"Still, we can't have you collapsing, so if you ever feel like you need a break, I don't mind cooking a meal. I'm nowhere near as good as you, but it's better than having you out for a whole week. And I'm sure the others wouldn't mind helping out as well, whether it be assisting or just washing dishes, just ask."

Sanji found it hard to argue with anything and he had always known that he only had to ask, but damn him and his pride. He would rather overwork himself than waste other people's time. He still nodded though, telling Usopp that he would be more careful from now on. Usopp seemed to also get that he wouldn't be asking for help any time soon and probably made a mental note to come help out anyway.

"Oh yeah, I brought food," Usopp said, suddenly remembering why he had come in the first place. And Sanji eyed the food, trying to convey that didn't want to eat. "Chopper said that you had to eat. It's been three days and if you don't eat, your body won't have the energy to recover." It sounded so logical, but if his body needed the food, why did it reject it?

"... no," Sanji tried and noticed how spoiled he sounded. He heard Usopp sigh.

"Come on, Nami and I made this especially for you," Usopp knew Sanji too well and the mention of Nami made him rethink his decision of not wanting the food. Usopp smiled when he knew his plan had worked.

"Fine, but only for Nami-san," _and for you, because I care about you just as much as I care about Nami-san._

"It's a simple mushroom soup with some herbs of Chopper's choosing, it should be light enough for your stomach not to reject it."

Sanji took a spoonful. It tasted like friendship and love. "Thank you."

* * *

 **Am I the only one who just loves sick!fics? Such a good excuse to have people take care of each other :3 It's my first attempt at one, but I'm quite happy about the outcome. It you liked it too, then please fave and follow for more. And leave a review to let me know what you thought xx**

 **Also, if you have any food related headcannons, which you think would fit the story and you want me to write about them, feel free to leave them in a review and I will most likely write about it. (Unless you want something like cannibalism, then you just need to get out)**


	5. How do you Build a Gingerbread House?

**This story suddenly got a lot of followers in a short time, so thank you for everyone who faved and followed it! It means a lot!**

 **This chapter is a bit shorter, but that happens. Also, I don't know how different people celebrate Christmas, but I've just drawn from my own experiences, so yeah. Enjoy!**

 **Edit: There were so many grammatical mistakes in this chapter I don't know how you guys got through it. Anyways, I have fixed all the ones I could find, but feel free to point out if you see any other glaring mistakes!**

 **Story set: Timeless**

* * *

How do you build a gingerbread house?

What is the one thing all pirates love? Is it treasure? Is it adventure? Well, it is those things as well, but they also love parties with plenty of food and drinks, consumed to the sound of up-beat music and followed by dancing among bright lights and laughter. The Captain of the notorious Strawhat crew would find any excuse to throw a party. One time they had celebrated that they had caught a fish that Luffy claimed had been green, with a long nose and a curly eyebrow... Well, Luffy was the Captain and if he wanted a party, he would get one.

This time though, it wasn't a stupid reason that had Sanji baking in the middle of the night. Sure, Chopper was gonna scold him later for not sleeping enough, but how mad could the reindeer get on his own birthday? When everything had been baked to perfection, Sanji woke Franky and Usopp, who were in on this little thing and they got to work. Franky removed the table and the chairs, which were usually nailed down to the kitchen floor, because this was a ship and if you expected it to stay still on the Grand Line, you were a bigger fool than the people who thought they could take Luffy down in a fight. Next they spread out the biggest piece of baking parchment you had ever seen, because making food directly on the kitchen floor was a straight path to food poisoning. Next they started the assembling and decorating.

Basically, the idea was to make a gingerbread house that was big enough for Chopper to actually be inside of. It would take up half the kitchen, but it would be the best gingerbread house ever created. Around 5 am the girls came in and started the decorations of the ship. Chopper's birthday happened to collide with Christmas Eve and while none of them really celebrated the holiday, many of them were quite fond of the decorations that came with it. The red and green decorations seemed to fit well with the crew, and the cinnamon, holly and oranges made the atmosphere pleasant and festive. Brook and Luffy were the next to wake and they began putting up lights that would make night look like day. Zoro had been tasked with keeping Chopper from coming onto deck too early, so they all still had about an hour to prepare.

When Brook started to play, it meant that the only thing left to finish was the gingerbread house. At this point it was as tall as Sanji and wider than Franky. Thanks to Franky, the house had a functional door and Usopp had made the colour combination of the icing look festive and very Chopper-ish. There were plenty of light red colours, which went well with the deep red and white. There were a few places of blue, purple and green, but nothing that drew too much attention. Sanji made sure to tell Usopp to make a drawing of the cake, because it truly was a masterpiece. Of course Sanji had made sure that it was exactly to Chopper's liking. Sweet, but not sickening. Every colour of icing had its different flavour and he had made sure to make three different doughs for the walls, floor and roof of the house, just to make it all the more interesting. The roof had also been decorated with chocolate buttons the size of Sanji's face and the corners were decorated with caramel. The inside had furniture-looking structures made from different colours and flavours of cotton candy. There was no way Chopper wasn't going to like this.

On the front of the house, Sanji made everyone write their name and a short message to Chopper with icing, just to make it more personal and damn, if this wasn't the best birthday cake he had ever made. When the last person had finished writing their message, Robin went to wake Zoro and Chopper. It was still early so there was good chance that Zoro at no point had had to make Chopper stay in bed, which would kind of have ruined the surprise.

Sanji loved surprises. Especially when he was the one surprising others. There was just nothing like the look on the face of someone who was greeted with a nice surprise and his crew mates all reacted to surprises in the best way. Upon entering the room, everyone had shouted 'Happy Birthday' and for a second Chopper had been speechless. And then came the tears. Sanji had honestly not seen Chopper this happy since the day he had left Sakura Kingdom, where he had been sent off with snowy cherry blossoms.

Chopper had beamed and hugged everyone after reading their messages. They were all were sweet and personal and in the end Chopper added a little _Thank you_ on top of the door. Then came the exploring. Sanji had made sure that no one would touch anything until Chopper had tried a bit of everything. Chopper had been super excited about the idea of being able to go _inside_ the cake and he looked like he was having the time of his life. While Chopper was exploring and slowly trying bits here and there, Sanji started making drinks and by the time he was finished, Chopper had given people permission to eat with him.

They had spent a good two hours eating and enjoying the house (what a healthy breakfast), they could probably have done it much faster, but there was a lot of talking and people tried to combine different parts of the house for the ultimate experience. Apparently Chopper had found that combining the dough of the ceiling with caramel, chocolate and the green mint-flavoured cotton candy was the best thing he had ever tasted. Luffy had at some point stopped eating (what a shocker!) to rest on a couch made of cotton candy. He had then said something along the lines of: "If heaven is like this, maybe I should become a marine?" to which Nami had slapped him and said that there was no way that he was going to heaven, since she would make sure to drag everyone to hell with her.

After the morning feast Brook started playing and dancing followed soon after. Sanji let himself leave the dishes for later and joined the festivities.

When night came and Sanji served the last meal of the day, the lights were out and they all sent a lantern and a wish to the skies. Sanji wished for their lives to remain as it was; exciting, loving and happy. Such a sappy wish, he thought, but that was what he wanted and no one was forced to tell their wish to others. Luffy had wished that the next island they came to was made of food and Zoro had accompanied that and wished for a sea made of booze. Sanji would have deemed those wishes stupid had it not been the Grand Line where he knew for a fact that there existed an island made of cake. Nami had wished for a safe journey, which Sanji thought would be hard even for the gods to make come true. They were sailing under Luffy and if he had the choice between safe and dangerous, you could bet your ass that he would choose dangerous, because "that's the most fun, right?". Robin and Usopp both kept their wishes to themselves, but both their eyes lingered at Luffy after they had let their lanterns fly. He guessed that their wishes were just as sappy as his. Franky had wished for the well-being of his family back on Water 7 and Brook had wished the same for Laboon. Chopper was the last to make his wish. He wished to see the miracle Sakura one more time to which Usopp and Franky smiled mysteriously at each other as they revealed that they had yet another present for the reindeer.

They made the remaining crew turn of all the lights and while they did so, Sanji noticed that Usopp had taken the Mini-Merry and sailed a good hundred metres away from the Sunny. After the last light had gone out there was a moment of complete silence in the dark as they all waited in anticipation. And then the first one exploded in the sky soon followed by another and then another. The fireworks were pink and resembled the Sakura of Chopper's home island. They lit up the night until the last one had been fired and it was the most spectacular one of them all. Sanji immediately knew that Usopp had spent many nights secretly working on this gift.

The last one started as a big explosion followed by nine smaller ones, which changed colour from white to red to gold and then finally to pink, before they exploded a last time to create the jolly roger that they were all sailing under; the crossbones and the skull wearing a strawhat. Sanji almost went deaf from the cheering that followed.

The only bad thing about the whole ordeal was that Robin's birthday was next and Sanji saw no way to top this.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed that! I'm still accepting any food related headcannons if anyone wants me to write a chapter on a particular thought of yours. But please, fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts :3**


	6. Coffee Keeps the Story Going

**SPOILER WARNING: It's no secret that I love Sanji and I'm therefore very inspired by the current arc, BUT that also means that this chapter spoils MAJOR PLOT POINTS in the manga, so for any anime-only's that might be reading this story, I'd recommend skipping this chapter.**

 **On that note, this is my contribution to the year of Sanji. Enjoy!**

 **Story set: After time skip? (References things from Whole Cake Island)**

* * *

Coffee keeps the story going

It was not often Sanji found sleep hard to come by, but everyone had their nights and this was Sanji's. It wasn't anything in particular, but after lying in bed for two hours mindlessly staring at ceiling, he gave up on trying to force sleep and decided that a good cup of tea might do the trick. Sanji walked soundlessly out of the men's quarters and into his favorite part of the Sunny, the kitchen. He started boiling some water and found a soothing blend of lemon grass and strawberry green tea, but then he remembered who was on watch and he doubled the water and prepared to make a good cup of coffee as well.

Sanji entered the crow's nest and found Robin seated by a window with a book and a blanket. She was barefooted and wore a silk pyjamas set. Unlike Nami who greatly preferred a light silk dress, Robin always wore trousers and a buttoned shirt. Her hair was tied in a loose ponytail with a few strands of hair left out of it and covering her face. All in all, she looked very comfortable.

"You should be sleeping," Robin said without looking up from her book and calmly turned the page.

"I know," Sanji smiled. Robin had somehow taken the role of the calm mother on the ship and Sanji liked it because it meant that she felt like a part of them and he was always afraid that she somehow wouldn't. A silly fear really.

Sanji gave her the coffee. She thanked him and put down her book, not even bothering to mark the page. Sanji found another blanket and sat down by another window, still facing her. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes just enjoying their drinks.

"How come you can't sleep? Nightmares?" Robin said almost teasingly, because she knew that wasn't the case. Sanji chuckled lightly.

"Yes, I dreamt that I was eaten by a giant Marimo," he said and she laughed.

"Must have been horrible," she smiled and they laughed again.

"I heard a story long ago," Robin suddenly said after a while and looked out the window, "about a boy who joined a pirate crew lead by a kind Captain with a dream of finding the All Blue," she looked back at him, "Do you know it?"

"I do."

"Well, I never heard the full tale, maybe you could enlighten me?" She wore the smile she always had when learning something new about the void century, about her dream and now when she was to learn of Sanji's.

"Well, long ago, a young boy lived with his family and one day he wandered into their great library. The boy had a many siblings, who treated him not all too kindly," Sanji felt that he was sharing things he wasn't supposed to, but if he said too much, Robin knew how to keep a secret, "that day his siblings were training in the yard and the boy took the opportunity to read the books his father always told him weren't worthy of someone of their status..."

"Their status?" Robin tilted her head slightly.

"Yes, though they had no land to claim as their own, they called themselves royals," he definitely wasn't supposed to share this, but whatever, "but the boy didn't care about status, he cared about the world outside of the house where he had lived his entire life. So he found a book labelled _the mysteries of the world_ and he learned a great many things. He learned that somewhere far away there was something called the Grand Line where seasons can change so suddenly that you may have a heatwave one minute and a snowstorm the next. He learned of the mysterious period in time called the void century, where a century's worth of history had been lost. He learned of the mysterious fruits made from the devil, which robbed you from your ability to swim, but in exchange gave you a unique power. And he learned of a mysterious sea known as the All Blue, where fish from all over the world would meet. A paradise for chefs."

"Was the boy a chef?"

"No, not yet, but he dreamed it. He would often sneak down to the kitchen to observe the cooks, servants and maids, and in the night he would try to recreate some of their recipes, but he was never successful. One time, his mother had found him and the boy had been locked in the cells without food for two days as a punishment."

"It sounds rough,"

"Not as rough as the story about the girl who dreamt of the void century, but I think you know that one."

"Yes, but that one has a happy ending," Robin smiled.

"So does this one," Sanji said and continued, "One day the boy and his family had been invited to a meeting of kings in the Holy Land and the boy saw his opportunity. Upon arriving the boy stowed away on a ship called _The Orbit_ which was headed for East Blue, the weakest of the seven seas, and therefore the last place the boy's father would be looking for him. The boy found work as an errand boy for the kitchens and after befriending the cooks they started teaching him, but it wouldn't last long... A few days after arriving in the east, a storm hit and with it; a pirate raid. The pirates had taken the treasures of the ship, but before they could retreat, a great wave hit and the ship was sunk."

"And did anyone survive?"

"Only two, the boy and the pirate Captain. They washed away on a rocky island, where they made a pact to stay on opposites sides of the island and only contact each other, if they spotted a ship. The Captain had given the boy a small bag of food that would last about five days, while he kept a bag five time its size for himself."

"That seems selfish."

"It did, but the boy had no choice but to accept it and did as he was told. He ran out of food after twenty-three days. On the seventy-fifth day he was on the brink of insanity and he decided to break the pact and went to see if the pirate had any food left. He found the bag untouched and opened it only to find the treasure the pirates had taken from the ship. The boy then went to the pirate wanting to understand his actions and found that not only had he given the boy all of the food, but to survive he had eaten his leg, which had been his pride in battle."

"Oh my!" Robin exclaimed quietly.

"The pirate told the boy that he let him live because the two shared the same dream of finding All Blue and if they ever got off this rocky island from hell, he would use the treasure to open a floating restaurant and the boy promised to help him. They were rescued on the eighty-fifth day."

"So the boy who dreamt of becoming a chef almost starved to death. How ironic fate is."

"Indeed." Sanji said and looked out the window, "The boy and the pirate opened up their restaurant and the boy slowly, but surely learned the ways of a cook, but in the midst of everything he lost sight of his dream. He felt like he could never repay the pirate for what he had done for him and thus promised himself to never leave the restaurant. And then the kind Captain came along and invited the boy to join them on their travels. They were headed for the Grand Line, where the boy could once again chase after his long lost dream, but he declined. It wasn't until he fought with the Captain and watched his conviction first hand that he understood, but even then it wasn't enough. So the pirate who had lost his leg and dream for the boy kicked him out and forced him to leave with the Captain, because he knew that would make the boy happy."

"And did it make the boy happy?"

"Yes, very."

"And what of the boy's family. What became of them?"

"He never saw them again, but he didn't care, because he had a new family now and he loved them far more than he had ever loved anyone else." Sanji looked at Robin and she understood very well, because he was not the only one to have a family in the strawhat pirates.

"How about another cup of coffee, Robin-chan?"

"Sounds lovely, maybe you could tell me the tale of the girl and the fishmen?"

"It would be my pleasure."

* * *

 **I honestly have so many ideas and theories about Sanji and the Vinsmokes, I might write another chapter focussing on it. Please fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts or food related headcannons, you want me to turn into a chapter :)**


	7. Super Gift and Lifetime Supply of Cola

**Okay so this one is SUPER short (hint hint).**

 **Story set: After Enies Lobby**

* * *

A super gift and a lifetime supply of Cola

Sanji seldom acted like a kid, but today was different and the crew was eyeing him like he had grown a second head. Remember how Luffy, Usopp and Chopper always acted when Franky showed off his Robo-features? That was how Sanji was acting right now. Like a spoiled brat on Christmas Day. But honestly who could blame him, he was practically in heaven right now. It had been sad and tearful when they had had to let go of Merry, but damn had Franky done a good job with their new ship.

He was currently in the progress of explaining to Sanji just what features this new kitchen of his entailed and with every sentence it got better. There were so many possibilities for Sanji to explore and he was practically jumping up and down, eagerly awaiting the time for him to try everything out. Tonight he would serve them a feast and to be honest they deserved it. They had gotten both Robin and Usopp back, they got a new ship and a shipwright with it. If it hadn't been for the parties they'd had already had back on Water 7, they would have feasted for a week straight, no doubt.

As soon as Franky said the words "That's about it," Sanji started cooking. He already had an idea of what he wanted to make so that he could fully explore all of his new stuff (yes it was his, screw everyone who claimed part of the kitchen). He faintly heard people leaving the kitchen as Franky showed them the rest of the ship. Sanji would see it later, for now, he was preparing a feast fit for Kings and Queens.

Come evening and most of the crew had gone to bed. Only Zoro who was on watch, Sanji who was cleaning the kitchen and Franky who was currently furling the sails were still awake. After having washed and cleaned, Sanji prepared a drink and a snack for Zoro from his special no-alcohol-for-Marimo notebook.

"Want me to bring it to him?" Franky asked. Sanji hadn't actually noticed when he had entered the kitchen, but he didn't let it bother him.

"If you can wait another five minutes, then please."

"You can super count on me!"

"You want anything?" Sanji offered and Franky requested a cola. How predictable.

"It's a nice kitchen," Sanji said as if his reaction previously hadn't already conveyed that opinion perfectly.

"I want the Sunny to be able to travel the entire world and the kitchen is a big part in realizing that dream," Franky simply said, but Sanji didn't understand.

"How so?"

"Sunny needs us to sail, just as much as we need her. A healthy and strong crew is one that will make it the furthest and don't you think that the chef who feeds the crew has a great part in that?"

Sanji smiled: "I do." He understood his role and he understood how important it was, eighty-five days on a rock would do that to you, "and since you are part of this crew," Sanji continued, "I'll be sure to make it so that I always have a meal and a bottle of cola for you."

"Is that so? And what if we run out?"

"Then I'll make it myself. I am a chef, you know."

"I'll take you up on that," Franky said as Sanji placed a drink and a snack on a tray, "and I hope you find your bed as comfortable as your kitchen, chef Sanji."

Franky took the tray and moved towards the crows nest. Sanji lingered a little longer, then took off his apron, folded it nicely on the counter and went to bed.

When Franky came for breakfast the next morning, he found a bottle of cola labelled: _Home-made_

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 **Please fave if you liked reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts or any food related headcannons you want me to make a story of :3**


	8. Song for the Living and Tea for the Dead

**Another short one, but I really enjoyed this one, and as _songs_ are in focus, I spent waaaaay too long on writing that one chorus, but you know, it was a lot of fun :) Hope you enjoy reading.**

 **FOR ANY ANIME-ONLY'S (or anyone who is not caught up to the manga) PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER!**

 **Story set: Timeless (but references things from Whole Cake Island)**

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A song for the living and a cup of tea for the dead

Sanji was perhaps the one who liked having a musician the most, apart from Luffy that is. Sanji had always been the first to wake, but now that Brook had joined, the musician almost always woke up right after Sanji. He would stand on the deck of the Sunny and play songs on his violin, and if Sanji knew the song he would hum along. Brook would then join Sanji about half an hour before the rest of the crew came for breakfast. Sometimes Zoro would be tending his swords in the background or if Usopp had had a late night he would come for a cup of coffee. Sometimes they would be joined by one of the girls, and if they were lucky, both of them, but today it was just Brook. Sanji had tea ready for the skeleton and he poured a cup for each of them.

"What was the first song you played?" Sanji asked Brook. The song had seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Glass of Smoke," Brook answered taking a sip of his tea, "It's quite an old one. The song was written in North Blue back when their old king had been overthrown in a rebellion. The new family ruled for quite some time, but I don't think they do anymore. What was their name... Vinsmoke, was it?"

"Doesn't ring a bell," Sanji lied, but now remembering the song quite clearly. The song had lyrics too, what were the words to the chorus again?

 _With gold on their heads_

 _The North will be forever safe_

 _Even with guns and bullets of lead_

 _The glass of smoke shall never cave_

It had been many years since Sanji had last heard the song, but now that he had heard the melody and recalled the words, he was pretty sure he could sing it if asked to. Not that that would happen now that he had claimed to not know the song.

Sanji didn't like the song. It spoke of a cruel rule as if it had been something great. Although, in his family's defence the king whom they had overthrown had been a dickhead, so removing him had probably been a good thing. The generation of Vinsmokes who had ruled after were good people, but their children and their children after them had let the power go to their heads and everything had just gone back to being absolute shit. Thankfully that era was over. Sanji wanted to change topic, but Brook continued talking about the Vinsmoke Family and Sanji silently prayed that no one would walk in.

"I have never met anyone from the family myself, but there are tales of their beauty throughout the seven seas."

This caught Sanji's attention, "Their beauty?" He had never heard of this before.

"Yes, it was rumoured that everyone born a Vinsmoke was inherently beautiful. The women would have twenty men a day asking for her hand in marriage and the men would have women fainting in the streets if they walked by."

"Sounds unlikely," Sanji mused, but he presumed that his sister did grow up to be quite the beauty and his brothers were certainly desired, but whether that be for looks or power, one could only wonder. But now Sanji was suddenly curious as to what other weird rumours floated around. Rumours were usually quite pointless to share, because very few of them were rooted in truth, but Sanji could actually judge which of them were true or not. "What else do you know about them?"

"Well, unlike many royal families who had armies fighting for them, the Vinsmokes were soldiers themselves. They had an army, but _they_ were frontiers. Apparently they trained their children in combat from a very young age."

"Sounds brutal," _and true,_ Sanji thought, but he guessed that a fact like that would be hard to keep hidden anyway.

"I think my knowledge falls short here... Although..."

"Although?" Sanji pushed, he was quite curious now.

"I heard something five years ago, when I had my shadow stolen by Moria."

"Oh?"

"Well, apparently this generation has five children, but it seems that one of those children has been separated from the family, whether by choice or not, I do not know. But Moria was quite interested in acquiring a shadow from this child, since the Vinsmokes were renowned for their fighting abilities. I don't think he got him though."

Sanji could have laughed so hard at that. Who would have thought that Moria had desired _his_ shadow, unknowingly caught it and then proceeded to put it into a penguin? Sanji quickly turned his back to Brook, pretending to prepare more tea, but in reality just hiding his big smile. He would never have thought that speaking of his family again would be any fun and here he was.

"I would love to meet that child though," Brook suddenly said, "I want to know what happened to him, but that may never come to pass."

"Nothing is impossible," Sanji simply said, "More tea?"

"Yes please."

* * *

 **Tomorrow I'll upload the first chapter that was based on a request. I'll switch between requests and my own original ideas as long as there are requests to be taken, but if there isn't I already have quite a few chapters written and even more ideas that can quickly turn into stories.**

 **Fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts or any other food related headcannons, you want me to turn into a chapter :)**


	9. Tender Meat

**Please read the following:**

 **WARNINGS: 1) This story contains descriptions of panic attacks, so if this, any way, should be uncomfortable for anyone to read, please skip this chapter. 2) This story also revelas major plot points that have yet to occur in the anime, so to avoid spoilers, please skip this chapter.**

 **Additional notes: First of all, this story is dedicated to guest reviewer EACT, who had a request. For the sake of not spoiling the events of the chapter, I will write the request in my end notes. Secondly, this chapter was originally much darker, but I changed it slightly because I felt like the point of this particular story is to make people feel good after reading it and after re-reading it, I just felt kind of sad, so I tweaked it a bit. It still has the original story line, but it was just a bit too dark. If anyone is at all interested in a darker story, but still with the same themes that I have going in this story, I might post a seperate story for that.**

 **Okay, now that I am done with all my notes, this is for EACT.**

 **Story set: After timeskip (but references things revealed in Whole Cake)**

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Tender meat

Sanji was panting hard at this point. His opponent was strong... really fucking strong. He created some distance between him and the guy he was fighting, trying to gain some sort of perspective and perhaps think of something that could turn the fight in his favour. It wasn't that Sanji was losing... he just wasn't winning either. Sanji looked around the area to see how everyone else was doing. It was safe to say that this battle was intense and chaotic, so let's break it down.

Luffy, Zoro and Sanji were the only people in one-on-one fights. Luffy was fighting the captain of pirate crew they had encountered and somehow gotten in a fight with. The reason was irrelevant at this point since losing meant dying, so they had no choice but to win. Now, the fact that Luffy was also struggling in his fight might say something about the power levels of this particular crew. Luffy's opponent had some sort of ability, but because Sanji had only seen moments of Luffy's fight he couldn't determine what kind of fruit he had eaten. Most likely some sort of short range paramecia, judging from Luffy's injuries and the scale of their battle.

Zoro's opponent was somehow another swordsman, who happened to be the vice-captain of the crew. Funny how that was always the case. Was it a rule that all vice-captains had to be swordsmen? Anyway they were also in quite a heated battle, but Sanji had faith in both Luffy and Zoro. They would definitely win.

Everyone else were fighting multiple opponents at once. The battle took place in a clearing in the middle of a forest, which was weirdly convenient. Usopp was nowhere to be seen. He was hidden away amongst the many trees surrounding them, shooting down anyone who tried to catch someone of guard. Sanji had already been saved by him twice and he was sure that Usopp had saved everyone else just as many times. It really made it easier to fight knowing that someone had your back. Brook and Chopper had teamed up and were fighting a group of ten or fifteen people. It seemed like they had the upper hand, but their stamina wasn't endless and both their fighting styles required a lot of movement. Lastly, Franky, Robin and Nami were taking on literally everyone else, which was about fifty or more people. Of course, these people weren't exactly excellent fighters, but they had some tricks and basic fighting knowledge. The three of them made a good combo though. Nami and Robin were both mid- to long-ranged fighters, while Franky was mostly a closed ranged one. This meant that the girls took care of everyone from a distance, while anyone who got to close for comfort were brutally taken out by Franky. All in all, it seemed like the strawhats should be able to come out of this fight as the victors.

Sanji turned his attention back to his opponent. He too seemed exhausted, but Sanji was almost one hundred percent certain that the guy had yet to show all of his skills and abilities. Sanji himself was hiding a few things, but he would really want to avoid using too many special abilities. Yes, if he could think his way out of this one, it would certainly be for the better.

Now to analyse his opponent. He was very strong physically, perhaps even stronger than Zoro in that aspect. Sanji had fought a big variety of opponents, but he rarely found himself face to face with someone whose main asset was pure strength. Sanji mostly dealt with people who had some sort of weird ability. So experience wasn't going to help him much here. His opponent also had a weapon; a big war hammer. So far Sanji had been able to dodge it pretty efficiently, but he had seen the impact this thing had and one hit from that would be sure to do more damage than just crack a few bones. Also, does anyone remember the saying about big and strong people? The one about them being strong, but slow? Yeah... Did that ever apply to reality? The answer was: no.

So his opponent was strong, had a weapon that made it hard to get near him, since taking one hit would do plenty damage, and to top it all off, he was fast as well. So what could Sanji do? He could outsmart him. They were fighting on uneven ground, and unlike Sanji who was both light on his feet and had the sweet ability of walking on air, his opponent was stuck on the ground. There was also a pretty big forest surrounding them and a forest meant loads of trees. Trees could burn, and Sanji really had been smart enough to not use any fire related attacks yet. One should always keep their cards close to their chest and only use them when it lead to victory. Of course, trees didn't just burst into flames unless they were helped along, but that was what the uneven ground was for.

Here was the plan. First, Sanji would engage in attacks that was sure to make his opponent run around. This would lower his stamina, since he was big and carrying around a pretty heavy hammer. The uneven ground would also be a big factor in this, as that meant his opponent would use critical stamina by balancing all the weight his was carrying. Sanji would lose stamina too, but not as much, since he would mostly just be avoiding the hammer. Next he would find an opening to land a blow that would sent the bastard flying into the forest, where he would remain long enough for Sanji to make it to Usopp, borrow some gasoline, which Usopp always kept with him in case he needed to blow stuff up. Sanji would then return to his fight where he would slowly scatter the gasoline around and lastly he would start a pretty big fire that would take out his opponent. A pretty good plan, but Sanji was open for complications, since the last thing he wanted to do was tie himself to a plan that might fall apart and then panic if it did.

So Sanji resumed the fight and he made sure to make his opponent work hard as he reserved his own energy for later. So far the plan seemed to work and Sanji was slightly surprised that his opponent didn't see through him right away. Tiring out your enemy was a very common strategy, but maybe he was just an idiot, who put far too much faith in his own power to ever think outside the box. Sanji soon saw his opening, when his opponent lost his footing due to the ground being slightly tilted, and coated his left leg in armourment haki, kicked his opponent with all the physical power he could muster and sent him flying. Sanji immediately set off to find Usopp and it did not take him long to pinpoint his location with observation haki. Usopp had barely heard Sanji's request when he handed him the gasoline, and with a quick 'thank you' Sanji was off again. Sanji decided to change the plan slightly and set up his trap before his opponent found him again and started preparing. It wasn't long before Sanji heard the angry yell of his opponent and he assumed that his location had been discovered, but the trap was set, so all was still well and going according to plan. Sanji calmly dodged a swing of the hammer and observed as the hammer collided with the tree but somehow not destroying it... maybe his opponent was more worn out than Sanji had expected? Either way, Sanji jumped upwards and when his jump reached its maximum hight he kicked the air and continued to ascend until he was out of the fire zone. Sanji gave his opponent no time to counter or flee as he used _Hell Memories_ to set the small part of the forest ablaze.

Sanji landed back on the crisp forest surface after the fire had died down and he found his opponent lying on the ground, clearly defeated. Sanji smirked, he was tired, but he had won, right?

"I'll make you regret this," his opponent panted as he reached for his hammer, but Sanji knew that even if he was conscious and still strong enough to lift the thing, he did not have the strength to make a swing that would do any sort of damage. In the end he just reached for the hammer, but after having held it for a few moments he retracted his hand, _possibly_ coming to the same conclusion as Sanji had: He had lost.

"And how will you make me regret it? You can no longer use your weapon nor even stand. Admit defeat."

"Admit defeat? Never! And who said that I could no longer use my weapon?" Sanji's smirk faded and he looked at his opponent. There was nothing he could do, what was he on about?

"A good fighter always keeps a second blade," Sanji heard the man whisper and he realized only a second too late what was happening and he hated himself for not putting the signs together. An impact that should have destroyed the tree, reaching for the hammer only to not use it and a second blade...

" _Impact!"_

Sanji felt an intense pain centered in his left leg and passed out.

"... Sanji... Sanji... Sanji!" Usopp's voice woke Sanji from his unconscious state and the first thing he noticed was pain. Unbelievable, intense, burning pain.

"What happened?!" Usopp asked worriedly as he helped Sanji stand.

"He hit me with an impact dial." Sanji said through gritted teeth. He could not support on his left leg, but Usopp helped him and they made their way to the clearing.

Sanji had half expected that he had been unconscious long enough for the battle to have ended, but apparently he hadn't been out too long. Sanji and Usopp made it just too see Robin take out the last of her opponents, but Zoro and Luffy were still fighting. Zoro's battle seemed to be wrapping up pretty soon. His opponent could barely stand and a final move should do the trick. Zoro himself didn't look too well though. He had been wearing a white shirt when the battle had started and the front of that shirt was no longer what you could call white. It was mostly small cuts here and there, but Sanji noticed a deep cut in his right shoulder. Zoro was the master of ignoring pain and injury, but Sanji could see that even he was suffering. It didn't make a difference though. Zoro's next attack finished the job and as soon as his opponent fell, he took off his bandana, which signalled victory. Now, only Luffy's fight was still to be decided.

Sanji had thought that Luffy stood pretty well against the enemy Captain, but what on earth were those weird burn marks on Luffy's skin? They were all over him and they seemed to be causing Luffy a lot of discomfort. He kept trying to cover them up with his hands, like one would with a burn, but they didn't look like burns. The spots were purple and seemed to be increasing in size as time passed. The smallest spot was about the size of a finger nail, while the biggest was bigger than Luffy's hand and it so happened to be placed on the side of his neck and it looked like Luffy was highly distracted by it. But apparently Luffy had, like Sanji, also been thinking ahead, because the ground beneath the enemy Captain suddenly sunk and Luffy leaped up and knocked the captain even further into the ground, so even if he didn't get knocked out from the attack, which he did, he would be stuck in the ground.

As soon as victory had been insured, Chopper got to work. Once again the Monster Trio had been the ones to take the most damage and Chopper made sure to scold them properly for it. Luckily they quickly figured out that the purple spots on Luffy could be treated by applying cold salt water and apart from those spots he was hardly injured at all. It didn't take long for Chopper to disinfect and sew up Zoro's shoulder, and after he had let Robin take care of the bandaging, he went to Sanji. Now that Sanji's adrenaline levels were dying the down, the pain was really making itself noticed, even more than before. Sanji had completely given up on trying to stand and the pain was so intense that he thought he could pass out at any moment. Chopper had a little moment of freaking out as he found that the injury was much more severe than it had looked at first glance, but Sanji could not make his brain focus on anything but the pain. Chopper was very quick to sense this and made Sanji take some sort of pill. He was out cold soon after.

When Sanji woke up the first thing he saw was green hair... Ugh. He was in the Sick Bay and Zoro was in the bed opposite him with Chopper tending to his wound. From the looks of it, Chopper was redoing the stitches.

"Oi, Chopper, swirly brows is awake."

Chopper turned around to look at Sanji and Sanji gave him a little nod to show that he wasn't in any pain... at the moment.

"Zoro, I'll check on Sanji before applying the bandages, so _don't_ leave until I allow it," Chopper was very stern when it came to Zoro, because he had this stupid habit of moving around when he wasn't fucking supposed to. Chopper went over to Sanji and had helped him sit. Sanji did not like how helpless he was feeling at the moment, especially since the stupid swordsman was there to witness it.

"I gave you some pain killers for the time being, but I can't keep applying them, so when the most painful part is over, you'll have to endure it. Is that okay?"

"Of course, I've probably been through worse anyway," Sanji replied and smiled reassuringly, which was very easy to do as long as he wasn't in any pain, "how long has it been?"

"Only a couple hours. Nami and Usopp are preparing dinner as we speak. We also left the island about two hours ago, because enemy encounters are rarer on sea, and along with you and Zoro, Luffy also needs rest, so we didn't want to risk another fight erupting.

"And!" Chopper continued, "I know you want to go back to the kitchen as soon as possible, but right now you can't use your leg. I have nothing against you leaving the Sick Bay, but you're not allowed to cook. Got it?"

"But-"

"No _buts_! I'm the doctor and as long as you are my patient, you will do as I say. Now drink this _slowly,_ and get some rest." Chopper went back to Zoro, who looked like he just wanted to sleep and bandaged him up with a message of _don't do anything stupid!_ Sanji went back to bed and prayed that his leg would heal quickly. That night he had a nightmare. A horrible one.

The images and sounds were disconnected and chaotic. Sanji's brain could barely keep up with what was happening. There was an image of a thin, weak Zeff missing a leg, and a woman's voice yelling: _"_ _I'll never allow you into the kitchen again!"_. There was an image of a girl wearing black pants and a pink shirt beating a little boy, because she was jealous of his talents and Luffy desperately screaming: _"_ _Sanji! Don't!"_ just before he vanished in front of him, because he wasn't strong enough to protect himself nor his friends. There was an image of Robin standing on the Tower of Justice screaming for help and the voice of a stranger shouting: _"_ _Die, you little piece of Vinsmoke shit!"_. There was an image of his father standing tall and intimidating and the voice of a kind cook laughing: _"_ _All Blue? That's just a myth!"_. There was an image of Zoro sacrificing himself on Thriller Bark and a whisper saying: _"_ _Don't forget, you life is more important than anyone else's."._ There were flashes of images of all the people he cared about and a booming voice roaring: _"_ _You were born to serve the family! You were born to kill!"_.

Sanji woke up breathing hard and soaked in cold sweat, but he couldn't help it. He felt like he had just visited hell. Sanji had, for the first time in a long time, dreamt of his family... his blood family, and combined with his physical pain, it was just too much for him to handle. He was of course still in the Sick Bay, but somehow his brain wasn't quite keeping up and everything seemed to resemble that small room, where he had spent most of his days. His leg had been neatly bandaged but when Sanji looked at it, all he saw was weakness. He still felt the pain, but he was sure that he was under some sort of drug that dulled most of it, but at the same time, the drug made everything cloudy and distant. It was like reality was far away and his past right there next to him, haunting him even when he was awake. Sanji bended his right leg to rest his arms upon and he burrowed his face in them. His breathing was still heavy and pained, but he just couldn't seem to get enough air into his lungs. His dream of his family was still clear in his head and the faces of the people whom he had tried so hard to forget were now clear images. He felt tears stinging in the corners of his eyes and he decided to just let them fall. Why could he still not control his breathing?! Sanji was getting more and more frustrated and at this point there were so many emotions within him that he felt like his head and chest might explode. It was too much and he just wanted it to end, but it never did.

"Just breathe," he heard someone say beside him, but he couldn't connect the voice to a face and his head was to heavy for him to lift, so he couldn't look either.

"Breathe, Sanji, breathe slowly," he heard the voice say again, but did they not understand that he was trying and it just wasn't working!

"Sanji just concentrate on breathing, forget everything else," the voice tried once again.

And he tried, he tried so hard to concentrate on exhaling and inhaling, but when it didn't work immediately Sanji just grew frustrated and he began feeling like he was suffocating. Eventually his body seemed to calm itself and the only thing that remained were the tears that had yet to dry. Sanji still refused to raise his head though.

"Sorry," he whispered to no one in particular and not really knowing what he was apologizing for, he just felt like he needed to do it.

"Don't apologize," Chopper said and Sanji was sure that he had been the person who had urged him to _breathe,_ "but if you can and want to, please tell me what just happened."

"I don't know..." Sanji whispered again.

"Have you experienced anything like this before?"

Sanji wanted to lie, but... "Yes."

"When? Recently?" Chopper sounded concerned, breaking his professional doctor attitude he always tried to maintain in dire situations.

"No... A long time ago." Sanji had never had any incidents while travelling with the strawhats, but he had experienced them back on the Baratie. They hadn't been frequent and on bad days he would get out of kitchen duties by feigning illness.

"Have you ever experienced them occurring on a regular basis?"

"No."

"Then... Do you know what trigger them?"

There was a long pause, before Sanji answered: "Yes."

"Can you tell me now?"

"... No."

"Then later?"

"Maybe."

"Alright, then for now I think you should rest. I'll stay with you for as long as you want, but for now, take this," He gave Sanji a pill.

"Is it dreamless?" Sanji asked, knowing exactly what it was.

"Yes, why?"

"Nothing..." Sanji said and took the pill obediently. He went back to sleep.

Sleep is good way to reset everything. Sanji felt a thousand times better than he had the previous day. His leg was still in pain, but he could breathe, his chest wasn't on fire and his head was clear. This meant that Sanji was quick to notice that he was not alone and that the person beside him wasn't Chopper, but Luffy. Chopper hadn't broken his promise though, he was sitting by his desk writing what he presumed was a report on Sanji's situation.

"Hello Captain," Sanji said softly and he immediately felt a little sad, because Luffy was looking at him with his big brown eyes and he was not hiding his concern even in the slightest.

"Chopper told me... about what happened... he said that it was important that you talk about it, but that you don't force yourself to do so."

"And I suppose that you will be there to listen," Sanji smiled and Luffy hugged him. He hugged him tightly and kindly and conveyed all of his feelings through that one hug.

"Don't be sad Sanji. I'm here for you." And Sanji hugged him back and wet Luffy's shoulder with his tears.

"I know, Luffy. I know."

Three days after the battle Sanji had gathered the crew. Since there was no better time than the present, Sanji thought that rather than postponing talking about his past, he might as well get it over with and told the crew as much as he felt comfortable sharing at this point. He told them about his family and the crew were surprised to learn that Sanji was, technically, a prince. He told them about how he had been treated by them, how that still affected him and haunted his dreams. He even told them about his near death-by-starvation situation and how he came to think of food as he did. Sanji left out very little of his story, but the part about women would be for another day.

When he had finished his story, most of the crew were crying and Sanji just smiled and said that they shouldn't worry about it, since all of that was in the past and they were his present. Of course this just made them cry even harder and Sanji knew that he would go through his past a thousand times over if it meant that he would end up right here in this moment, surrounded by his new family, who loved him and he loved in return.

* * *

 **So EACT requested a whump!Sanji fic. I don't know how well that particular request turned out after having changed the story, but I hoped it was enjoyable anyway.**

 **Please fave it you liked it, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts or any food related headcannons, you would like me to make a chapter of.**


	10. A Break, a Bath and a Fruity Drink

**EDIT: I have been told that this chapter comes off as Sanji x Nami, so please keep in mind that that was not my intentions with this chapter, but I can definitely understand how it can be interpreted as so.**

 **Lastly: Special shout out to the amazing Chidsengan. You literally brighten my day with every message, so I just wanted to thank you again! You are an amazing person!**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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A break, a bath and a fruity drink

Sanji was taking a break. That happened, it wasn't unusual and today wasn't unusual either. Sanji was just taking a break. Today he had had a bit of a late start because breakfast preparations had been put on hold, when a storm had hit the Sunny. This unfortunately meant that Sanji had been robbed of his morning shower. Unlike the other guys on the crew, Sanji preferred showering daily, so combining bath time with his after-lunch break gave him the luxury of taking a bath complete with soaks and bubbles. He had cleansed in the shower first and had then prepared a bath using a bath bomb made by Usopp and Chopper and recommended by Nami-san. It had a neutral but pleasing smell and Chopper had mixed some special oil into it, which gave it some special effect on the body. What exactly that was, Sanji didn't know, but he figured it was good and relaxing. He had brought a book (not a dirty one, get your mind out of the gutter), which he hadn't found time to read since his birthday two weeks ago. So here he was; taking a break soaked in bubbles and reading a book. Life was good... and then Nami entered.

Sanji hadn't told anyone that he had decided to take a bath, because why would he? The girls showered in the evening and the guys had shower days and today was not one of those days, so when Nami suddenly entered Sanji almost dropped his book in the water. She was fully dressed, so he wouldn't be charged with a ridiculous sum of money for accidentally seeing her naked, but Sanji was naked, and for some reason he was painfully aware of that fact.

"Nami-san?" Sanji asked as he sunk a little further into the tub.

"What- Sanji-kun?" She seemed as surprised as him and by the looks of her, she had come to take a bath too.

"Don't- don't you usually shower in the evening?" He asked quickly as if trying to explain why it was okay for him to use the bathroom.

"I do, but... um... I fell asleep at my desk last night and because of the storm I haven't had time to shower until now... I'm sorry, I'll come back later." She rushed out of the door and left Sanji red faced in the bath. He never finished the book.

Sanji made sure to tell Nami when he was done with his bath and she hurried off without a word. He decided that the best course of action was to pretend nothing had happened and with that mindset he went to prepare dinner.

Dinner went... well. They avoided eye contact and just went about their usual business. Sanji fought with Zoro over something ridiculous and Nami scolded Luffy for his usual behaviour. The others tried to prevent them from destroying anything. Ordinary dinner with the strawhats. What wasn't ordinary was that Nami lingered afterwards pretending to finish a map, though Sanji knew the map she was currently working on was a sketch of non-existent island, which Nami always drew, when she needed to pretend that she was working. Sanji decided to give her a freshly made fruit cocktail and she put down her pen.

"Sorry that I walked in on you..." She said taking a sip of her drink, "It's good," she suddenly exclaimed almost surprised, momentarily forgetting what she talking about, "What's in it?"

"Oranges mostly... but it also has kiwi and mint, and a few other things, but I won't bother you with the minor details."

"Either way it's really good..." she took another sip, "I'm still sorry though."

"It's fine, Nami-san, no harm done. I mean, we even switched bodies once so it's really no big deal."

"Oh yeah..." Nami said, obviously also remembering Punk Hazard. She had been the only one to be put inside two different people, so she must've had it extra hard (not that Sanji had had it particularly rough, he had been in Nami-swan's body for crying out loud!). "But even so, Sanji-kun, I'm sorry. I mean it probably wouldn't have been the end of the world even if I had seen you all naked. I mean, if the rest of you looks as good as what I've already seen, you were just born with the best luck..."

"...What?"

"I mean, Zoro's got the looks, but he's an idiot and he has a shit personality, but you just have the whole package... if we forget a couple of things concerning your constant flirting and idiotic attitude towards women."

"What?"

"I just mean... wait..." Nami seemed to be suddenly understanding what she was saying and quickly corrected herself, "I just mean, you look good and you're nice, okay? Don't get the wrong idea here!"

"Right..." Sanji wasn't quite sure how to respond, he was almost certain that she had been complimenting him on his looks and parts of his personality... but only almost.

"I'll leave and tomorrow none of this happened!" She declared and left the kitchen without taking her fake map with her. Sanji cleaned it up for her, cleaned the kitchen and went to bed. Tomorrow brings a new day, he thought to himself and fell asleep.

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 **Okay, so I know this was short and had nothing to do with food at all, but I just really wanted to write a bath scene, okay? If you enjoyed reading please fave it, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts and any food related headcannons you would want me to write a chapter about. Thank you for all your support :3**


	11. I Don't Need More Kiwi in My Life

**Edit: I changed the ingredient from Seri to Parsley. I mean Seri is a sort of Parsley, but no one even knows that...**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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I don't need more kiwi's in my life

"I'm a failure of a cook... I'm a failure of a cook... I'm a failure of a cook... I'm a failure of a cook... I'm a failure of a cook..." Sanji was almost lost in trance, muttering the same phrase over and over. He was sat in a corner of the kitchen, with his back to Luffy, who was trying to comfort him. It was incredibly sweet really. Luffy was saying that he was, without a doubt, the best cook in the world and that he loved his food and anyone who dared say otherwise would get blown to the end of the world. It was just that Sanji found it hard to believe at this point. Do you remember the fear Sanji had had when he had discovered (been told) that Luffy was allergic to Kiwi? The fear about making food that Luffy didn't like? Yeah, that fear just became reality. And reality was cruel to a dreamer.

Sanji slowly slid down to lie on the floor, still facing the wall and started drawing circles on the floor with his finger. "Maybe I should change career? Become a stylist or something... Obviously I can't cook, so there goes that dream..." Sanji sighed and kept drawing imaginary circles on the floor.

"Everyone has things they like and things they don't!" Luffy tried desperately waving his arms around as if that made any difference, "You just happened to make something I didn't like! Remember when you made that really good mushroom soup and Usopp ended up eating bread, because he doesn't like mushrooms! And the time you made the super delicious curry, but Chopper didn't like it because it was spicy! See, that's no different from this!"

"But Usopp and Chopper aren't Luffy... Luffy is Luffy... " Sanji mumbled from the floor.

"Yes, yes! Luffy is Luffy and Luffy doesn't like parsley, because once Luffy's grandpa left him on a mountain and all there was to eat was parsley, so Luffy doesn't like parsley anymore!"

Sanji rolled over to face Luffy, he had a tear in the corner of his eye and he was putting on a perfect pout: "Is that true?"

"Of course it is! I don't lie!" Luffy said sternly and put his hands on his hips, which he always did when he dared someone to defy him. Usually people didn't... unless their name was Zoro and they were slightly intoxicated. This would then earn Zoro a good fight, which he would undoubtedly lose.

Sanji blinked his tears away (no he wasn't crying, you're crying!), got up and hugged Luffy.

"Are there any other food preferences of yours that I don't know about?" Sanji asked, because his heart sure couldn't take more surprises of this kind.

"I don't think so..." Luffy said and hugged Sanji back tightly, but Sanji pushed Luffy away to look him in the eyes, still holding on to his shoulder though.

"You don't _think_ so? I can't use that for shit, Captain. I need a definite yes or no!"

"But haven't tasted everything yet, so how could I know. That's like asking Chopper if he likes East Blue, when he's never been there!" Luffy was making sense and Sanji didn't like it, because that meant that there were still possibilities of Sanji making food Luffy didn't like. Damn it, why was Luffy only this logical when it was working against Sanji?

"Okay, okay, I get it, but there is nothing ordinary you don't fancy... like bananas or something?" Sanji sighed, though not letting go of Luffy just yet.

"Ah, no no, besides..." Luffy started and Sanji tilted his head, "You make everything taste so good, even the things I normally wouldn't eat like peppers and broccoli, parsley is just a special case for me, but everything you cook is sooooo good! You're like the best cook in the world!" And there was that loving smile again and Sanji knew he'd lost whatever this battle was.

"Okay then, what can I do to make up for serving you parsley then?"

Luffy's eyes lit up, "Takoyaki!" He cheered and Sanji got to work with Luffy happily assisting him.

On the counter was a forgotten plate of parsley purée.

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 **Guys! If you haven't tasted Takoyaki, you definitely should. I had the pleasure of eating some for the first time the other day and it was heavenly!**

 **Please fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts or any food related headcannons you want me to write a chapter for :)**


	12. Returning the Flavour

**So far none of my chapters have been directly connected to each other, but this is basically a sequal to chapter four _The Best Kind of Soup_ , so I hope you remember that one :)**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Ever since the formation of the Strawhat crew only two people had ever gotten ill. The first had been Nami and the second had been Sanji. Both times had left the crew in a dire situation that had only just been dealt with. Sanji remembered only too well the day he had recovered and found the kitchen in a very sorry state and worse was the almost empty pantry. He was sure that had he not recovered a day earlier than expected they would have run out of food before they had reached the next island. Of course, Chopper hadn't been too keen on letting him work right after recovering, as his body was technically still healing and returning to his daily routines immediately would put too much strain on his weakened body. It was then that Usopp offered his help, as he had said he would, and Sanji had been allowed to cook for his friends again.

So up until this point, only two people had been ill, but now a third person could be added to that list. Sanji had been serving some evening tea for the crew members who were still awake, meaning anyone but Nami, Chopper and Zoro, when he found Usopp collapsed in his mini-factory. He had dropped his tray, ignoring the wasted tea for once in his life and checked on him. Usopp had a high fever and his breaths were ragged and inconsistent like he was having trouble getting the air into his lungs. He remembered calling for help, while trying to find a way to make Usopp more comfortable than he was on the wooden floor. The first person who showed up was Robin, who after one look crossed her arms as she did whenever she used her powers. Sanji guessed that she was waking Chopper. She then came to sit opposite of Sanji, so Usopp was between them and examined him as Sanji had done himself. He didn't stop her though, it was always more comforting to do it yourself, than to have someone tell you. It wasn't as much the act of checking up on him that was important, as it was the feeling of having something to do, so you didn't feel too helpless. The next one to come in through the door was Brook. He was carrying a wet towel meaning Robin had contacted him as well. He placed the towel on Usopp's forehead and he looked about one percent more comfortable.

Finally, after what felt like years, but probably hadn't been more than thirty seconds, Chopper came through the door and hurried to Usopp's side. After a third check-up, though this time done by a doctor, Chopper changed into his 'human' form and carried Usopp to the Sick Bay. On his way he made sure to give both Robin and Sanji some instructions. Sanji didn't catch what Robin was supposed to do, but she hurried towards their small garden, while Sanji had been sent to the kitchen to make a special tea. Sanji wondered if there had been just as much fuss when he had fallen ill.

Robin finished her job before Sanji and ran through the kitchen to get to Chopper. She gave him a little reassuring smile when she passed him, but didn't say a word as she disappeared though the door between the kitchen and the Sick Bay. Sanji was almost done with the tea, it just needed to sit for a couple of minutes, when Luffy came bursting through the door, a tired Zoro following him. He was very quick to make his way to the Sick Bay and Sanji thought about stopping him as the Sick Bay was small and there were already three people in there, but why deny his Captain to see his sick best friend (yes, no one could tell Sanji that those two were not best friends, even though he suspected that Luffy might be closer to Zoro than anyone else on the crew, but that was somehow very different). Zoro stayed in the kitchen though, standing just outside the door to the Sick Bay.

"Do we know how bad it is?" He asked Sanji, his voice still a bit raspy from just having woken up.

"No, but Chopper doesn't seem too worried, so hopefully he'll be fine soon," Sanji could've made a joke about Zoro's voice or scolded him for being so calm about a sick crew mate, but Sanji wasn't in the mood for a fight and he knew Zoro cared for Usopp like a little brother.

Just as the tea was done, Robin came out of the Sick Bay, allowing Sanji too enter without crowding the room too much. When Sanji entered he noticed that Usopp had been changed into the same type of clothes (if not the exact same clothes) as Sanji had worn the time he had been ill. Chopper and Luffy had been talking, but stopped when they noticed Sanji and he didn't catch what their conversation had been about. Probably Usopp, if he has to guess.

"Ah, Sanji," Chopper said and left Luffy sitting beside Usopp looking about as worried as the time Zoro had been out for days after taking all of Luffy's pain back on Thriller Bark (not that Luffy knew that though). Sanji had not seen Luffy when he had been sick, but he had heard that he had been the one person to sit with Sanji the most when he wasn't awake and that he had helped Usopp and Nami with the dishes whenever they needed an extra hand (Sanji had been surprised that only one plate had been broken in the process).

"Just put the tea here for now, Luffy and I will take care of the rest," Chopper gestured to the small table and poured a cup half full.

"Do we have a diagnosis, doctor?" Sanji asked trying to sound somewhat professional about this, but his tone completely failed to hide his worry.

"It's most likely just a bacteria infection in his throat, quite common, but it seems that something else has made his symptoms a bit worse than usual. I have an idea as to what though, so don't worry, he'll be fine after I'm done with him."

"I trust you," Sanji said putting on the best smile he could muster and both Luffy and Chopper tried to the same, but they were fooling no one. They were worried as hell, even though there was no real danger.

"Get some sleep," Chopper said, sounding a little bit more stern than usual, but he knew why. Sanji had heard that when he had been ill, the entire crew had been losing precious hours of sleep. The main cause of Sanji's illness last time had been not resting enough, so he understood why Chopper was worried, since Sanji couldn't exactly stop cooking just because someone got sick. It was already late and past the bedtime Chopper had set for him (yes he had a fucking bedtime), so he figured he might get some sleep. To make sure he wouldn't stay awake the whole night worrying about Usopp, he took a sleeping pill.

Franky was the one who woke him up the following morning. Unlike Sanji he looked like hadn't had too much sleep and Sanji expected that he might be the only one who had slept at all, unless the crew had been smart and not said a word to Nami. Just like him, she had a stern sleeping schedule because her work could mean their life or death. He hoped they had let her sleep, although he could understand if they hadn't though. She too had a very special relationship with Usopp and being the last one to find out about him being ill (not only the last, but also hours later), she would be mad as hell.

Sanji started preparing a breakfast that would best support a sleep deprived crew. It wasn't long after he had started cooking that Chopper came out of the Sick Bay.

"How is he?" Sanji asked immediately hating not knowing what was going on.

"Better," Chopper said vaguely, but thankfully he elaborated after seeing the look on Sanji's face, "He's resting now, but his fever has gone down and his breathing has eased. He'll be fine in three days time, he just needs sleep and care."

"And what about Luffy," Sanji eyed the door to the Sick Bay, well aware that Luffy had not been in his hammock, when Franky had woken him up.

"He's sleeping."

"Oh, and how did you make him do that?" Sanji teased trying to lighten the mood a little.

"I slipped a sleeping drug into his drink when he wasn't looking," Chopper said, not guilty at all. He really took proper rest seriously.

"How naughty, drugging our dear Captain like that. Some would consider it treason, you know."

"And some would consider it the right thing to do," Chopper replied cheekily. Maybe letting him spend so much time with Zoro was a bad idea after all, "Anyway, Usopp's throat will be sore for a while, even more so than yours was, so make something that doesn't put to much strain on it. Can you do that?"

"I'm the cook of the future pirate king," Sanji said, "I can make anything."

Chopper went back to Usopp and Sanji returned to his work. Chopper had said that his throat hurt more than Sanji's had, when he had been ill, and he could only imagine how painful that must be. He remembered how he often felt like his throat was on fire and water had only done so much to calm it. He was just happy to have slept through most of it.

When Sanji was setting the table Nami came storming in with Brook right behind her, obviously trying to calm her down, though Sanji noticed the big bump on his head (how did a skeleton get bumps anyway?). At first it looked like she was going to the Sick Bay, but upon seeing Sanji she apparently changed her mind and went for him instead.

"Why did no one tell me?!" She almost screamed, but it seemed she still tried to keep her voice from waking Luffy and, more importantly, Usopp. She then proceeded to first slap him across the face and then hitting his arm repeatedly until he was sure to get a bruise. "Why didn't you tell me?!" She accused him again, but he noticed that her eyes were watering and started feeling really guilty for no good reason.

"Sorry," he whispered to her, wanting to say more, but the words wouldn't come. She looked like she was about to hit him again, but sunk down on a chair instead, burying her head in her arms.

"Why did no one tell me..." She whispered again and Sanji wanted to comfort her, but did not know how. Instead he looked at Brook, who seemed just as helpless as him. What a pair of gentlemen they were, not even able to help a single crying girl.

Luffy didn't join them for breakfast, hopefully because he was still sleeping and Chopper only came to give an update. Sanji couldn't help but find it a little ironic after the pep talk Usopp had given Sanji when he had been ill. Apparently the catalysing factor in his illness had been overwork, just like Sanji, and he figured that that said a lot about the crew; working hard until you eventually collapse from it. Sanji couldn't have been the only one with these thoughts, because as soon as Chopper had said 'overwork' everyone had looked to Sanji for a moment, before turning their attention back to Chopper. When he eventually went back to Usopp (and Luffy) without eating, Sanji put two plates aside for later and finished up the soup for Usopp.

Usopp had woken up around noon and though Sanji wasn't in the room, he could hear Luffy and it sounded like he was much better than he had been last night. He had just been about to pour some soup into a very big mug, when Chopper had come out to say that Usopp had to wait an hour before he could eat. It was something about the medicine taking effect and dulling the pain, before he could eat without it hurting too much. So Sanji had to set the soup aside for now. It hadn't been long after Chopper had disappeared back into the Sick Bay that Sanji suddenly heard Usopp yell: "You idiot!", which was then followed by a crashing sound and Chopper shouting: "Don't yell! You'll strain your throat!". Curious as he was he took a peek inside the room. Chopper was standing on the table pointing a hove at Usopp accusingly, Usopp himself was sitting up and appeared to just have moved his upper body a great deal, while Luffy had crashed into some furniture at the end of the room. So, what had happened? Sanji soon got his answer.

"What was that for?" Luffy asked and got up not bothering to put the furniture back in place.

" _What was that for?_ " Usopp said angrily, "You haven't eaten and you refuse to sleep! Why would you do that? I may be sick, but there is no reason for you to go down with me!" This seemed to take Luffy aback for a second.

"Usopp is right," Chopper said, "You're the Captain. You can't mistreat your body just because you're worried. We need you to stay strong... in every way." Usopp nodded in agreement.

"Right, I understand, I'm sorry," Luffy said and Sanji found it a little hard to believe that he would just accept it so easily, but if there was anyone whom Luffy listened to it was Usopp (and Zoro).

"Well, if you're done fighting," Sanji said turning their heads towards him, "I have food for our Captain, and you too Chopper. You should follow your own advice sometime."

"Can I eat here?" Luffy asked innocently, but Sanji wouldn't allow that.

"I think you need to get some fresh air. Marimo is napping on deck, eat with him," Sanji said, knowing full well that 1) Zoro hated being woken from his nap, 2) He couldn't find it in him to be mad at Luffy for waking him and 3) Zoro missed his Captain, because, like the loyal dog he was, he craved constant attention.

"Yes sir," Luffy saluted, something he did whenever he wanted to remind his crew that, yes, they could tell him what to do as long as had nothing against it, but at the end of the day, he was the one in charge. Sanji ruffled Luffy's hair on his way out (his hat had fallen off when Usopp had thrown him and it was now hanging from his neck) and Luffy smiled at him.

After both Chopper and Luffy had had their food, Usopp had been allowed to eat and Sanji found himself alone with him in the Sick Bay.

"How are you?" He asked as he gave him the soup.

"Better," Usopp said mimicking the answer Sanji had given, when their roles had been reversed.

"You're an idiot, you know that?"

"Oh yeah? How so?"

"You gave me this really big talk on how I shouldn't work too hard and ask for help and stuff, and then you just do the exact same thing. That makes you an idiot."

"Haha, you may be right," Usopp sipped his soup. At least, unlike Sanji, he hadn't objected to eating.

" _May be right?_ I am right. You're an idiot, end of story."

"We're all idiots," Usopp simply said.

"Are we now?"

"We are. Look at who we're following."

That made Sanji laugh, "You're right, we're all idiots."

"Thanks for the soup," Usopp said after a while.

"You're welcome, just getter better, you idiot."

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 **I told you I loved sick!fics, so this should come as no surprise. If you enjoyed it please fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts or any food related headcannons you want me to write a chapter on.**


	13. Shower Songs and Bribing Burgers

**This chapter is based on another headcannon of mine ;) Enjoy!**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Shower songs and bribing burgers

Sanji was showering. No surprise there. It was morning, Sanji showered every morning. He was also having a really good morning. It seemed like Brook was too, because he was playing _Bink's saké_ and he only played that song on good mornings, because usually it was reserved for cheerful evenings. You would think that one would get tired of _Bink's saké_ after hearing it so many times, but Sanji found that he liked it more and more each time Brook played it. On the other hand, Sanji _only_ liked it when Brook played it. One time, the crew had entered a bar, where the band had played _Bink's saké,_ and it had been super weird. In the end the crew had just looked at each other, decided that it sounded wrong and chosen another place to dine.

As he was showering, Sanji quietly sang the words and closed his eyes just focusing on the music and the soothing water. It was quite a relaxing experience, until...

"You have a good voice."

Sanji had not heard Franky enter and he immediately got embarrassed. Not because he was naked, fuck that, all the guys had seen each other naked on multiple occasions, it was because someone had heard him sing. Sanji was aware that he had a somewhat nice singing voice, but he didn't like being heard so he only sang when others did, because that meant no one could actually hear him.

"No! I- um, no" Sanji tried flustered, "What are you even doing here?"

"Nami said there was a problem with the hot water... apparently it was too hot."

"Huh... I didn't notice," Sanji mused forgetting his embarrassment from just seconds ago.

"I could imagine you wouldn't. You work around heat and most of your attacks involve fire, I bet you probably like it warmer than most."

"Spot on," Sanji said and washed the remaining shampoo out his hair.

"Actually..." Franky said, almost to himself, "You're from the North, right? Isn't it cold there?"

"It is," Sanji confirmed, "and people used to make fun of me, because I always wore an extra layer of clothes. I never liked the cold."

"Haha, tough being from the North then."

"You bet," Sanji agreed, though he wasn't just talking about the cold this time.

After Franky had finished his repairs, he made his way to the door, but not before saying: "I bet Luffy will be excited to hear that you can sing." And Sanji tried to protest, but failed miserably. He would have chased him, had he not been completely naked.

After Sanji had very hurriedly dried and dressed, he set off in pursuit of a certain cyborg. He found him on deck talking to Brook, about something that better not be Sanji, and he made sure to kick him to the other side of the ship.

"Good morning, Sanji-san," Brook said calmly, not too bothered by the fact that Sanji had just sent Franky flying, "would you like to request a song?" If Brook was playing, he couldn't talk, so Sanji took the opportunity.

"How about _Ode to the Southern Seas?_ That's a good one," _and a long one._

"As you wish, it happens to be a personal favorite of mine too," Brook started playing and Sanji hurried to Franky.

"You better not have said anything!"

"You really don't want people to know? What a shame when you voice is so..." Franky struck a pose and Sanji face palmed, "suuuuper!"

"Yeah, yeah, just don't tell anyone..."

"I can't agree to that." Franky said and Sanji was almost certain that Franky was having fun torturing him like this.

"What?!"

"It would be such a shame to hide your talents, so you're gonna have to try harder to buy my silence," Franky grinned and Sanji grit his teeth... Okay he could do this.

"Cola-themed food for three days." Sanji offered.

"I can get cola whenever I want. Declined."

"Fine. Burgers. No! One Burger! One burger the size of Mini-Merry."

"Two Burgers, one for me and one for the rest of you."

"Okay, Three Burgers, one for you, one for Luffy and one for the rest of us."

"Make mine bigger than Luffy's."

"Deal."

Sanji went to the kitchen to prepare the dough. He would need to ask Franky for a bigger bowl.

That night the crew wondered why Sanji had decided to make burgers that were the size of small ships and Sanji shrugged his shoulder and claimed to have been bored. When Luffy later complained that Franky had a bigger share than him, Sanji said it was as thanks for providing him with the tools that were big enough for his project. Luffy never noticed the lie and complimented the food.

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 **Headcannon: Sanji has a nice voice :) , also I think Oda said in an SBS that Franky's favorite food was burgers (or anything that goes with cola...)**

 **If you enjoyed reading, please fave and follow for more. Don't forget to leave a review with your thoughts and any food related headcannons you want me to write a chapter on :3**


	14. Who said the Moon was made of Cheese?

**Okay, I'm not gonna say to much about this chapter until after you've read it, so enjoy!**

 **Story set: After Thriller Bark**

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Who said the moon was made of cheese?

Sanji had always wondered about two things. 1) How Zoro had joined the crew and 2) What would happen if the crew ever discovered the truth of Zoro's encounter with Kuma back on Thriller Bark? These were things he wondered, but accepted that he probably wouldn't ever get the answers to. The first one because Luffy wasn't a person to talk about the past and Zoro wasn't a person to talk (to Sanji at least). The second one because though he wondered, he knew the truth was better kept hidden and he was not going to be the person to tell anyone. However, the following night Sanji would get his answers to both of these things.

It was late and Sanji was about to go to bed, when he remembered that Luffy had first watch. That meant that if Sanji didn't give him snacks, he would raid the kitchen, so he quickly made something for the gluttonous Captain and made his way to the crow's nest. He would have entered without bothering to knock had he not heard Luffy first. Luffy was not one to raise his voice when he was angry, which was actually kind of scary. When Luffy was angry, really angry, he would have this calm look on his face and his voice would be stern and ice cold. But what he heard from the crow's nest was Luffy having raised his voice in anger and that scared Sanji more than any enemy ever could. Who on earth had angered Luffy enough for this to happen? Sanji hadn't heard what Luffy had said the first time, but he heard him the second time.

"You broke your promise! How do you expect me to trust you after this?!" At first Sanji didn't pay too much attention to the words. What really struck him was that behind the yelling and the anger, Luffy sounded sad. Really sad. Sanji put down the tray with food and drinks and sat down beside the door to keep listening, because no way he was going to leave now. Then the words struck him. _You broke your promise._ What did that mean and who had promised him what? So many questions. Sanji didn't have time to think too much, because a second voice said something which Sanji couldn't make out, but he could hear that the voice was to dark to be a woman, so that excluded a few people.

"An apology is not going to change what happened! What were you thinking? That I would be fine with your decision and that would be that?!" Luffy must've punched the wall at this point, because there was a loud bang, which was followed by something heavy falling to the ground... probably Zoro's weights.

"Then what should I have done! You were gonna die! I didn't have a choice!" It was clear at this point that it was Zoro and Luffy who were fighting, which somehow seemed odd to Sanji. They bickered, but they _never_ fought. Except for that one time in Whiskey Peak, but that had been a misunderstanding and not too long after they had met, but this. This was different. This was clearly no misunderstanding and after months of companionship followed by two years of painful separation, Luffy and Zoro were closer than ever and at this point Sanji couldn't even imagine one without the other. Not that he could imagine the crew apart at all, but those two were special. Always together, always on the same page, always in perfect sync. What on earth had happened?

"You should have let me die!" The words struck Sanji hard. There was no way Zoro (or any other strawhat) would let Luffy die if they could help it and whether saving his life would mean sacrificing someone else, they would not hesitate to do it, least of all if that person was themselves. Sanji knew. Sanji had been there. Every single strawhat would give their life for Luffy's without even blinking an eye, because without Luffy they were nothing. And hearing Luffy tell Zoro, the one who probably cared about Luffy the most (which said a whole damn lot about how much he cared) that he should have let him die. That was painful to hear.

"You know I could never do that... Not anymore," Zoro didn't yell, but his words were still clear and Luffy punched another wall. Sanji slightly feared for the Sunny, but there wasn't really much that he could do at this point.

"But you promised..." Luffy lowered his voice and he sounded so broken that Sanji wanted nothing more than to burst in and give him a hug, but this was not his fight, so he wouldn't interfere.

"You promised," Luffy continued, "You wouldn't let me get in the way of your dream, you promised."

"I did."

There was a long pause and Sanji couldn't tell if they were just standing there in silence or doing something more, but the silence just made him wonder even more. At what point had Zoro made such a stupid promise. Anyone with a brain would know that he would eventually have to break that promise and there was no way Zoro would lie directly to Luffy. He had more pride, more honour than that.

"Back then," Zoro suddenly said, "I was in such an isolated place. I was thinking of no one but myself and cared only for my own goals and ambitions and it got me nowhere. I thought too highly of myself and too lowly of the world around me... And then you came along. I remember the first time I saw you and thought: _A boy wearing a strawhat pretending to be a pirate, he'll be dead before long,_ but then you made me join your crew, which to be fair couldn't be called a crew when it was just the two of us and you broke the walls I had been building around myself. You forced me to see the world as it was and you made me understand my place in it.

"When I made that promise I was ignorant and self centred and I may still have some of those things within me, but I also know that without you there is nothing left for me. In a way I wouldn't break my promise if I sacrificed my life to save yours, because letting you die would mean letting my dream die too and I could never live with that, and I know I'm not the only one. Everyone in this crew feels the same. You can't die Luffy, not as long as you're carrying all of our dreams with you."

At this point Sanji was crying. He now knew what they were talking about and though he felt with Luffy, he agreed with Zoro. Luffy was their light. If he died, there would be nowhere for them to go and they would all go back to being just as lost as they had been before he had entered their lives.

"You don't understand..." Luffy said his voice trembling and Sanji got confused. What on earth was Luffy talking about now?

"What do you mean?" Zoro said voicing Sanji's thoughts.

"I can't..." Luffy sounded so close to his breaking point that Sanji could practically feel his heart aching, "I can't go on without you. I need you."

And then it hit Sanji just why Luffy had been so angry. Zoro had promised him to always put his dream before Luffy and that was his insurance. As long as Luffy believed that Zoro would never put him first, he could trust that Zoro would always be by his side and because he could trust that, he allowed himself to believe that Zoro would never die and _oh_ how wrong he had been. Luffy always relied on Zoro the most, he put his full trust in Zoro and he put his dream in Zoro, just as Zoro and the rest of them had put theirs in Luffy. Just as they needed him to go on, Luffy needed Zoro, so learning that he had almost died to protect him must have been like a knife to the heart, because the one certainty he had was Zoro and now that was gone.

Silence had once again taken its hold and Sanji was frozen. He didn't even bother to wipe away his tears, because everything about this situation was just so heartbreaking. The two idiots on the other side of the door depended so much on each other that it had made them incapable of ever being without the other. It wasn't that they didn't care about the rest of the crew, because they definitely did. Look at what had happened when Robin had tried to sacrifice herself for them. And in spite of that Sanji believed that should someone ever die or actually leave the crew for whatever reason, they would be strong enough to keep going as long as Luffy was there. But if Zoro died, Luffy would never recover from the loss and they would have lost him as well. Someone had said that Zoro and Luffy were like two sides of the same coin and at the time Sanji had agreed just because they seemed to be inseparable, but now he got it. If one died, so did the other. Zoro had once said that he would follow Luffy wherever he went and Sanji knew that if it ever came to it, Zoro would follow him into death and beyond.

"Let's make a new promise then," Zoro said suddenly, "We don't die."

"You can't promise that. Ace promised that and he died."

Another knife to the heart. Ace was a forbidden word on the crew, because they had yet to learn where Luffy stood on the subject, so hearing Luffy talk about his death was painful.

"Then we don't die, but when we do, we die together." A short pause and...

"Sounds good to me," Luffy said and Sanji could hear the smile forming on his lips.

At that Sanji left. He didn't need to hear more, but now he understood. He couldn't let those idiots die. He wouldn't allow it and neither would anyone else. They would live forever if Sanji could make it so.

The tray Sanji had brought to the crow's nest was returned to the kitchen the next morning after Zoro had found it outside the crows nest. He knew Sanji had heard everything, but it didn't matter because Sanji wasn't going to say a word. He just going to act accordingly.

The following day was no different than any other day on the thousand Sunny. Nothing had changed.

* * *

 **I'm not gonna lie, I cried when I wrote this and I got teary eyed when I proofread it. Luffy and Zoro's friendship is very special and I hope I portrayed the unique bond they share well enough.**

 **On another note: Here's a challenge for you all: Can you decipher the title? I had a very clear idea when naming this chapter, but I don't know if anyone will get it...**

 **Also, I will probably do a follow-up chapter talking about Ace, so look forward to that!**

 **But if you enjoyed this chapter, please fave and follow for more and please leave a review with your thoughts, they make me super happy. You are also welcome to leave a request for a chapter as long as it is somewhat food or Sanji related :) Next update will be based on a request!**


	15. Calm Your Thirst With My Tears

**This chapter is based on another request. It was a request by Mimi, who wanted a fic involving Vivi. Unfortunately I could not do exactly as you requested as that would have meant writing from Vivi's point of view, and this story is meant to be from Sanji's point of view only. HOWEVER, I might do a seperate fic which would then be from Vivi's POV about the current events.**

 **But without further ado, this is chapter is for Mimi.**

 **IMPORTANT EDIT/NOTE: I am SO sorry to any anime-only's (or people who are not caught up) who might have read this chapter and gotten spoiled! Here's a WARNING to anyone who is NOT CAUGHT UP on the current MANGA events. DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS. This chapter SPOILS MAJOR PLOT POINTS, so proceed with caution!**

 **Story set: Shortly before Alabasta (but references things revealed in Whole Cake Island)**

* * *

Calm you thirst with my tears

They were only a day away from Alabasta, when Vivi suddenly decided to pay Sanji a visit in the kitchen of the Going Merry. She took a place by the table and when she didn't say anything, Sanji did.

"Vivi-chan~" Sanji sang and floated to her side, "What can I do for you, my princess~"

She smiled lovingly at him, but the proceeded to look down to her folded hands on the table.

"I..." she started and Sanji suspected that she was having a hard time finding the right words, which made him wonder. What was she trying to say?

"I could be wrong," she said after some time, "Actually I think I'm wrong, but I need to know..." She took a deep breath, "Have we met before?"

For a brief moment Sanji wondered why Vivi would think such a thing, because surely they would never have met before. But that was only for a brief moment, because suddenly Sanji remembered and he knew the answer to that question was ' _yes'._ But he couldn't... not yet...

"I don't think I would have forgotten someone as beautiful as you, my lady~" Sanji said lovingly, avoiding the question.

"Well... I suppose I must be thinking of someone else then. Sorry to have bothered you about it." She left the kitchen and Sanji was once again alone with his thoughts.

He remembered very well the first time they had met. Actually, you couldn't really call it a meeting. It was more like a passing of sorts. It had been around ten years ago, when the reverie had been held and for the first time, Sanji had been allowed to attend with his older siblings and parents. Only his little brother had stayed at home, while the rest of them had travelled to the Holy Land. There wasn't really much for the children to do, when the adults were having their meeting and young Sanji had found it hard to understand why he had been forced to come along. It was an overall boring place, he wasn't allowed to do anything and unlike his own home, he couldn't just sneak down to the kitchens, because 1) He had to behave and 2) He didn't actually know where the kitchen was. He eventually had found himself walking around in a small garden, when he started to hear voices. He hid behind a pillar, because he honestly didn't want to socialize with anyone. They were all so high up their horses and Sanji found it almost disgusting how they talked to people of lesser status. So Sanji silently observed the people who were being just a little bit too loud. They were all children. There were seven of them and most of them seemed to be from different countries, though some could also be related. It didn't really matter, what caught Sanji's eye was the young blue-haired girl, who was standing surrounded by the other six. It wasn't hard to see that they were bullying her.

Sanji, having learned good manners from the moment he could walk and talk, was about to step in and help out the girl, but he stopped himself, when she spoke up. This girl, Sanji found, was roughly three years younger than him, and also three times as strong as him. It was like none of the bullies mattered to her, she just shut everything they said down with pure intellect and confidence. They tried insulting her, and she ignored it. They tried insulting her father and she proved their accusations wrong. They tried insulting her country and she made them go back on their word. She was fierce and unafraid. Just Sanji had been told he had to be.

This was when one of the boys pointed out that they were six and she was all alone and suggested starting a fight. Now, Sanji was not the kind of boy who looked down on women, far from, the strongest people in his family were his mother and sister, but Sanji had no knowledge about this girl's fighting capabilities and even if she could fight she was greatly outnumbered. One of the boys then sprinted towards the girl, fist raised high and ready to punch her bloody, when Sanji blocked him and shoved him back to the other children. If Sanji had any skills to be proud of, it would be combat.

"You shouldn't fight," he said coldly, "You may not lead your country, but your influence and name is enough to start a war if anyone should get hurt."

"Is that so?" One of the girls snickered, "Then the same should apply to you. Just wait 'till my father hears about this. He'll send a hoard of raiders to your country."

"I'd like to see him try," Sanji said, "because my family don't rule any country, which means that I can fight all I want, but what would happen if you tried, I wonder. Want to find out?"

This shut the girl up and she looked to the others for help. It seemed that none of them had anything to say and they left without another word. Almost immediately afterwards the meeting had come to a pause and leaders from around the world were slowly filling the garden, taking in some fresh air and stretching their limbs. Sanji imagined that a meeting with this many powerful people would involve a lot of sitting. Either that or there would be war.

Sanji turned around and was about to ask the girl's name, but she had already run off. In the distance he heard his sister call his name and he obeyed her command. Through some research and trespassing, Sanji learned that the girl was the only princess of the country of Alabasta, Nefertari Vivi.

It was late. Luffy was sleeping. Everyone was sleeping, except for Sanji and Vivi who were tending to the worn-out crew. The only noise that could be heard was the falling of the rain and sometimes someone would let out some sleepy words.

"We _have_ met before," Sanji suddenly said and Vivi turned her head to him, questioning.

"Did you just remember something?" She asked quietly as not to wake Luffy, whom she was currently tending to.

"No, I lied before..." he said, wanting to be truthful this time, "I just... I don't particularly like that part of my life."

"What do you mean?" Vivi said concerned and moved closer to him, but still near Luffy in case he should need her.

"We met at the reverie," Sanji simply said, not wanting to elaborate to much on it.

She was silent for a while, but then understood: "Oh." Her eyes lingered sadly at him for a moment or two, but then looked back to Luffy and smiled. "I bet you're happy you joined Luffy's crew then?"

Sanji looked down at his feet, his eyes stinging and watering up. He never let a tear fall and smiled: "Yes," he whispered, "Very."

* * *

 **I hope this chapter was satisfying and you enjoyed reading it :) Also, am I the only who thinks that my chapter titles are getting more and more cryptic as the series goes on?**

 **Either way, I hope you liked the chapter and if you did, don't forget to fave it and follow it for more. Please leave a review with your thoughts or any food-related headcannons you want me to write a chapter on :3 I still have a few requests to go through, so don't fret if your request isn't up as one of the next chapters, I promise I will do all of them :)**


	16. A Flame Can Grow Small But Never Die

**Okay, so here is that Ace follow up chapter (that doesn't actually have Ace in it, but he can appear in another chapter).**

 **Also, I had a guest reviewer make a comment on the last chapter that I would like to address: The comment was about Vivi's age in the previous chapter, and I would just like to point out that I was not wrong, because what you thought referred to her age, referred to the fact that she was alone and not one in age. I have of course changed the formulation of the sentence so that it can no longer be misinterpreted, so thank you for bringing it to my attention :)**

 **Lastly I would like to take a moment to just shamelessly promote another story I posted yesterday. It's just a short one-shot drabble, it has some similarities with this story when it comes to style (just more drabbly), but it is from Zoro's point of view. The story is called _The Only Truth I Know,_ so please check it out if you are interested.**

 **Story set: After Time Skip**

* * *

A flame can grow small but never die

It was only a matter of time before someone brought it up. The forbidden topic. Sanji didn't know who would do it. The one who first broke or someone who finally gathered enough courage? When it came to breaking down Sanji considered himself as a good candidate. There were days where he was standing in the kitchen watching the flames do their work and his mind would wander off. He would think of Ace, how they met and how he made them _promise_ to take care of Luffy for him. He'd remember how they'd all tried so hard to fulfil that promise and how he and Zoro had tried giving their lives for his (though their promise to Ace had been far from their minds at the time. It was all about Luffy). He remembered Kuma. Kuma who almost killed Zoro, Kuma who tore them apart, Kuma who broke them to save them. He remembered his own self-pity when he was stuck on Momoiro Island and how the newspaper had set him straight. He remembered reading the words and not quite taking them in because _this had to be a mistake._ And he remembered the realization, oh how well he remembered it. At first he had been furious, because anger could be dealt with by kicking anything in the near vicinity, but his anger wouldn't last for long. His aimless kicks could only do so much and he remembered drowning in tears and painful screams. He remembered his thoughts down to the exact words, because to this day he still blamed himself for the same thing. _Why wasn't I there?_

Sanji knew the question was on the mind of every single strawhat (except for Luffy) and he knew it was slowly tearing them up from the inside, because they had yet to touch upon the subject. Luffy had briefly mention the war a couple of times, but never elaborating and never inviting any questions on the topic. But everything he said sent a dagger to their hearts. _I befriended Hancock and she helped me._ _I almost died from poison. Jinbei was there for me when I had no one._

Another good candidate for just breaking down and begging Luffy to start talking would be Zoro, although Sanji half-expected Zoro to know more than anyone else. The thing about Zoro was just that Sanji knew how painful this ordeal was for himself, which just meant that it had to be at least ten times as hard on Zoro, because Zoro was the one Luffy relied on. If Luffy needed to talk, If Luffy needed to vent and if Luffy needed to break down, because no matter how strong you are, you cannot stay strong forever, Zoro was there. Sanji remembered when both Robin and Usopp had left the crew and Luffy had broken down to a state where Sanji could hardly recognize him. He was quiet, he ate less and his eyes barely had any light in them. But Zoro was there and with every word he spoke, Luffy seemed to get stronger.

Sanji also remembered the end of their two year separation. How happy they'd all been and how that happiness had come to a momentary stop, when they noticed the huge burn mark spread across Luffy's chest. There had been a two second silence and Usopp had carefully asked about it, to which Luffy just briefly touched it and said _war._ And Zoro had hugged him. Sanji was sure this was the first time he had seen Zoro hug Luffy (or hug anyone for that matter), but he understood the action and it wasn't long before the crew were all huddled together in one big group hug, with Luffy safely planted between Zoro's arms... And that was the closest they'd ever been to talking about the war.

Robin could also fit the bill. She, more than anyone, knew what it was like to keep secrets, knew what it was like to keep your feelings bottled up inside and how it affected you. She cared for Luffy as intensely as a mother would and not being able to comfort him in his need was a pain visible in her eyes. But she also knew that there was no point in talking before you were ready and pushing too hard would only make matters worse. This knowledge was likely what kept her from asking about anything. However, Sanji figured, she might not be able to hold herself back for much longer. Lately, her gaze had been lingering more on Luffy, and his scar, and she initiated more conversations with him than usual, despite her reserved personality.

In the end, if they were all strong enough to not break under the pressure and pain, it would come down to whoever found the courage to just _ask._ Nami could do it. She was good at asking the hard questions and she was as close to Luffy as any sister would be. Sanji had caught her trying to ask a few times, both during meals where they were all gathered and when Luffy was on deck an there were less people, but she always stopped herself and started another topic. It was clear from her voice and expression that she knew it had to be done at some point, and she, much like Sanji, had probably also figured out that it was better to have someone ask Luffy in a rational manner, rather than having someone completely break down.

Brook could do it too. There was a calmness about him that made everything seem a lot easier. There was kindness in his voice and strength in his bones. Sanji was actually surprised that he, unlike Nami, hadn't tried to ask Luffy yet, but Brook was also much more patient than Nami and he was probably waiting for the best time. Sanji wondered what and when that moment would be.

Franky and Chopper were both in some kind of grey-zone and he half suspected that as much as they wanted answer, they had both put their faith in other crew members. Franky was often seen lingering around Robin whenever she spoke to Luffy and Chopper could be seen more and more around the stupid swordsman. If Sanji had to put down any money, he'd probably bet on Zoro too. And he would have lost those money, because the answer really should have been obvious, because when Usopp suddenly asks Luffy, no one is surprised.

He is sitting at Luffy's left hand, because the right is reserved for Zoro, and he looks him straight in the eyes and asks: "Could you tell us about the war?"

And Luffy just smiles and says: "What do you wanna know?" Because it's all so simple and why did they ever think that Luffy wouldn't want to talk about it?

"Everything." Usopp starts, but knowing Luffy, he would need to be specific, "How are you feeling?"

"Feeling?" Luffy tilted his head slightly.

"... About Ace." Usopp never broke eye-contact, because when it came to Luffy, and confronting Luffy, he was the bravest of them all. And in this instance that immense bravery would have been visible if anyone would just have looked around, but no one did... except for Sanji. Where Luffy had kept his eyes on Usopp, because why look away when someone spoke to you, Usopp had done the same and never even glanced to the others. Everyone around them were wide-eyed and looked intensely at Luffy, making sure to not miss a single thing. There was an air of fear in the kitchen, not fear of Luffy nor his reaction to the mention of the forbidden topic, but fear of what they were about to find out. Fear that Luffy would finally say it, say that they had failed him. They were all trying to hold back gasps, outbursts or tears, some succeeding better than others, but despite this, it was almost completely silent in the room. Only the sound of the ocean could be heard in those few moments of silence and Sanji found it strangely comforting. Zoro who was now the closest to Luffy had gone from his usual slumped-over-the-table position to sitting straight, which should tell you how tense the situation was and Sanji caught him reaching for Luffy's hand only to retract it again. Sanji had the sudden urge to grab Luffy's hand himself.

"I'm fine," Luffy said, but when Usopp didn't back down, he continued, "I wasn't at first, because, to me, Ace was the strongest. I could never beat him no matter how hard I tried and when Sabo died, he promised me that he wouldn't ever die." _Who was Sabo?_ "So I thought that I would never lose him, but then I did and I was so sad, but it's been two years and I'm over it, so there is no need for you to worry about me. I'm fine."

And wasn't Luffy convincing? Their Captain couldn't lie for shit, but even with that knowledge this seemed so truthful that it broke Sanji's heart, just a little, that they hadn't trusted him to be completely fine and that they hadn't trusted him enough to expect him to come to just one of them, if he needed to. And it broke Sanji's heart that Luffy was fine, because as much as wanted his Captain to be as happy as he could, they had done nothing to make that happen. They had done absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.

Luffy looked like he saw the end of the conversation and to be honest, Sanji saw it too. They had confirmed that Luffy was okay, and that was all that really mattered, but then Usopp looked at the crew and Sanji wasn't sure what he saw, but he looked back to Luffy and spoke again and this time what he said took everyone, including Luffy, by surprise. It had always been about Luffy and only Luffy, but Usopp changed that with just one sentence.

"You may be fine, but we are not."

Silence fell once again. Luffy's lips parted slightly as if he was about to say something, but couldn't find the words. His eyes had gone a bit bigger and he looked like he was trying to figure out why his nakama _were not fine!_ And Usopp still kept his eyes solely on Luffy and it seemed like he managed to convey everything he couldn't put words on in that one gaze.

And as the realization hit Luffy he started to speak. Luffy wasn't one for stories about the past, he found them irrelevant as they had nothing to do with the present, but this time, his story had an influence on both their present and their future. And so he spoke. He spoke for hours and hours, letting them know all the details and the only one who ever moved during any of it, was Sanji as he made his way around with tea and coffee.

Sanji wasn't sure if Luffy was just a good story-teller, or if it was the events that were so powerful, but never had the crew laughed so much (his adventures on Amazon Lily had been hilarious, for the most part), never had the crew screamed so much (all his many encounters with powerful people, friend or foe, had been met with surprise) and never had the crew cried so much, because this truly was a tragic tale. Luffy had been through so much, overcome so many trials and hardships, only to fail in the end. And when the tale came to a close, Luffy knew just what he needed to say for his crew to finally be _fine._

"Ace was dead, I saw nothing but darkness and then Jinbei came and asked me what I still had left... And I thought of you." Luffy looked at all of them, a sweet smile on his lips and no sense of sadness in his eyes. "I thought of you and the darkness around me seemed to just fade away, because even if you weren't there, you gave me strength I needed to carry on."

Sanji looked at Luffy and ignored the tears streaming endlessly from his eyes. A huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders. Luffy was fine... thanks to them.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading, I really hope you liked this chapter and if you did, please fave it, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts or any food-related headcannons you may have that you would like me to write a chapter on :)**


	17. Encounters When Food Shopping

**Back on them requests, eh? (I'm sorry I won't do that again...) But this was another request from guest reviewer EACT, to not spoil the happenings of the chapter, the full request will be included in my endnotes.**

 **IMPORTANT WARNING: This is a warning to all ANIME-ONLY'S, who are not aware of what is going on in the MANGA right now. This chapter will SPOIL MAJOR PLOT POINTS, so I will encourage all anime-only's to just skip this chapter and come back to it whenever I remove the warning (aka when the anime is caught up). I will also write in the notes of a chapter if I remove warnings on any chapters, so that you have an idea of what to read at what time :)**

 **Without further ado, for all manga-readers and those who don't care about spoilers. Enjoy!**

 **Story set: After Zou**

* * *

Encounters when food shopping

Between the time he left the Baratie and his supposed engagement to Charlotte Pudding of the Big Mom Pirates, Sanji encountered her three times.

 _1\. Alabasta_

On the fourth day it stopped raining and Sanji snuck out of the palace to buy some spices he had wanted since the day they had first arrived. Of course with the country in a state of civil war and the strawhats trying to prevent anything too disastrous from happening, he hadn't had the time to go food shopping... Until now. After buying everything he wanted and definitely more than he needed, Sanji found a small café and decided that he could do with a good cup of tea and perhaps something sweet. He ordered a special ginger tea along with one of Alabasta's unique desserts called: Kunafa. Right as he had placed his order, someone took a seat opposite him.

"I'll have whatever he's having," the girl smiled and the waitress nodded before leaving their table.

"Long time, no see, sister," Sanji said calmly. There was no need to fear her. If she wanted a fight, she would have wanted to catch him off guard and she would have waited to reveal herself until he had no longer been surrounded by people. Because right now in this country, the strawhats were seen as heroes (by those who knew of them) and there was no way Reiju wouldn't know about it, smart as she was.

"Yes, it truly has been a long time. About three years I think. I still remember the look on your face, when Yonji and I walked into the restaurant. You looked so shocked when you saw us, though I don't think Yonji noticed you. He can be a little slow at times." She rested her head in her hand, tilted her head slightly and smiled sweetly.

"I'm surprised you didn't come back though. Would it not have been easy for you to drag me back? Or are you afraid that I'm still stronger than you?" Sanji threatened and smiled back at her.

"Afraid?" She snorted, "Of you? Oh Please! Give me a break. What do I have to fear? I have dedicated every single day since you left to becoming stronger, while you stood behind a counter making food for peasants and outlaws."

"And which one are you then?" Sanji countered calmly, "Peasant or outlaw?"

"You little-"

"Your order," the waitress interrupted and put down two plates of cake along with their tea, "Enjoy."

"Well, it doesn't matter," Sanji said and took a sip of his tea, "I believe in cooking for the hungry and that's all there is to it."

They sat in silence for a while. Sanji was enjoying his tea and cake and Reiju was... probably doing the same thing.

"When the time comes..." Reiju said, "You'll regret what you did."

"Yes, when hell freezes over."

"Then..." she stood up, "I'll turn hell into my personal ice fortress." With that she left and Sanji wondered what Reiju was doing in Alabasta. In the end she never finished her tea and cake. Sanji got annoyed at the way she was wasting food, but at the same time she was acting the same as he was before he met Zeff. He would have prayed for her to find someone who could open her eyes, but Sanji knew his prayers would do no good. She was too far from salvation.

 _2\. Water 7_

At this point Sanji gave up searching. He had lost Chopper and Robin-chan a good twenty minutes ago when they had stumbled upon a bookshop. This normally wouldn't have been a problem, Sanji enjoyed reading and he could sacrifice some food shopping time to explore the great literary world. However, at some point Chopper and Robin must've left the shop, because Sanji was sure that he was the only person in the bookshop. Not wanting to leave Robin-chan alone after the events of Enies Lobby, he immediately began searching for her. Sanji was aware that Robin was most likely still with Chopper, which meant that Sanji's searching wasn't as urgent as it could have been and Water 7's interesting food stalls were just as luring as any girl.

So now Sanji had accepted the fact that he probably wouldn't see them until they met back up with the others and he decided to just dedicate himself to the city's delicacies. He made his way to one of the bigger streets so that he wouldn't have to rent a boat and started down a path that was sure to leave him very poor. Then someone grabbed hold of his arm and walked with him.

"Declaring war against the World Government, really now? I thought you were smarting than that?"

"Well, in defence of my own intellect, I was just following my Captain's orders... But then again, I would have done the same if I had been the one to make the call, so it doesn't really matter."

"So you are admitting that you are stupid?" She chuckled.

"No, I'm saying that I have loyalty and that I care for my family."

She stopped walking, let go of his arm and looked at him coldly.

"Loyalty? Care for your family?" She hissed and her hands gripped tight onto nothing but air, "You know none of that, you betrayed us, betrayed mother... betrayed _me!_ "

Not wanting to cause a scene, Sanji dragged her into an alley, where no one could overhear their conversation without Sanji knowing about it.

"Look, I never approved of what you did. I did not betray you. To betray someone you would have to have been loyal to them. We might be blood, but we were not and are not family," Sanji said calmly, but hiding his anger. Sanji would never understand her, never understand how she could look at herself every morning without feeling guilty, without thinking twice about her actions. She had so much blood on her hands, it made Zoro look like a saint. He knew what drove her though: Power. In every sense of the word. He was not going to deny that she was a hard worker on top of being both talented and bright minded, she just used her gifts wrongly. She was a warrior, she had influence through her name, she was charming and beautiful, she could outsmart any man or woman who dared to go against her, but she was a devil in human form.

"We are blood!" She almost screamed ignoring Sanji's statement all together though she still had some control in her. She was a professional after all, but Sanji knew he was the one person she could not keep her cool around.

"Blood does not equal family. Love does! I did not love you, I did love our brother nor our father and I did _not_ love the woman who dared to call herself my mother!" Blood was going to Sanji's head, but he couldn't help it. As much as he infuriated her, she also angered him.

"On that we can agree, she was not your mother, you did not deserve her! But I did and you took her away from me!" She swung her right arm at him and he blocked. She swung again, but he was not about to let his guard down and they both knew that they couldn't start a full-blown fight in the streets of Water 7. Not that Sanji could fight her anyway, but she did not need to know that. She pulled away.

"Your actions at Enies Lobby will have consequences. Mark my words, your crew will be dead before long." She took off and Sanji kicked the building next to him.

 _3\. Fishman Island_

Sanji should have known when he went food shopping alone. He should have known that she would just mysteriously show up and talk shit about something she shouldn't stick her nose in. But even though Sanji should have known, she still startled him when she suddenly started speaking.

"Strawhat may be an idiot, but he has guts, going up against Big Mom like that."

"Don't insult my Captain." Sanji answered, but something about Reiju felt different from the last few times they had met. Sanji couldn't describe what it was, but Reiju acted like she had just won some kind of fight and he did not like that. Not a bit.

"I'm just stating a fact. You may be stronger than two years ago, but you don't stand a chance against a Yonkou."

"We'll see about that," Sanji answered and wanted to leave, but she blocked his way and continued talking.

"Oh we will. And it'll be soon too. The tea party is only a few weeks away."

"The tea party?" Sanji asked, but she gave no answer.

"It'll be like a family reunion," she laughed falsely, "Our brothers will all be there and father too!"

"What are you talking about?!" Sanji yelled and turned a few heads, but Reiju just pulled on an angel face and people simply smiled and went back to their business. Reiju walked towards him and for a moment, he thought she was going to attack, but she went straight past him.

"You can't run forever, my sweet little brother." Reiju whispered and disappeared, leaving Sanji confused and alone in the crowd.

A week later he would come to know the meaning of her words. She had won the first battle.

* * *

 **So the request from EACT was: "Sanji** **meeting up with his horrible family again". Since we don't know too much about them at this moment (Chapter 829) I decided just to included Reiju.**

 **Also, there are a lot of little things in this chapter which are basically drawn from my own theories on Sanji's backstory, but I won't elaborate on them in any upcoming chapter. Feel free to ask if you are interested and leave your own theories on what you think happened to Sanji and his family. We can start an interesting discussion!**

 **Lastly, fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts. It is much appreciated :)**


	18. I'm Monetizing This Beer

**Story set: Timeless**

* * *

I'm monetizing this beer

It is not rare for the Strawhats to eat in a restaurant, a café or a bar of sorts. It's a good excuse for the following three things: 1) For them to try local cuisine, 2) for Sanji to absorb new cooking methods and recipes and 3) make Sanji take a goddamn break. On this particular day they were in a small restaurant, though Sanji didn't really want to call it that. Restaurants had professional chefs, welcoming waiters and a wide menu. This place had none of those things. The place was much smaller than the Baratie, it only had one waiter, who did not know what she was doing (poor girl) and the chefs... Well, let's just say that Sanji was keeping an eye on what they did and what they were serving, because what the hell? He wasn't too sure how they had ended in this place to begin with. It was something about Nami finding it cheap, Luffy meeting a nice old man and Brook feeling sorry for the waitress, when they were about to turn down her offer of them dining in the 'restaurant'. Either way, here they were and Sanji decided just to roll with it for now.

The starters were not as bad as Sanji had expected them to be. Half the crew (Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Franky and Brook) had ordered the soup and the rest of them had ordered the salad. Sanji had made sure to taste Brook's soup for a sample and it was all quite okay, but there was nothing special about it. It was still lunch though, so he just had to make sure to find a better place, when dinner came about.

"Nami-san?" Sanji asked lovingly and she just looked coldly at him, detecting that he was about to ask for a favour and it was going to involve money, and more precisely, spending money.

"What is it, Sanji-kun?"

"Can I be in charge of our dinner reservations?"

"No." She immediately answered and continued her conversation with Franky. Though Sanji loved Nami, he was not about to give up his little quest and decided that as a pirate, it was okay to play dirty. So he pulled the Captain card.

"Luffy, don't you want to eat a really good meal tonight? With lots of meat, lovely drinks and sweet desserts?" Sanji felt Nami's burning eyes on him, but at least that meant that she was paying attention to him.

"That sounds awesome! Let's do that!" Luffy cheered and Sanji turned back to Nami with a victorious smile. Just because he didn't want to physically fight a woman did not mean that he couldn't take them on in battle and win.

"You hear that Nami-san? Our Captain wants a fancy dinner with lots of food and who are we to disobey?"

"You're going to hell," she said annoyed.

"Of course~, I wouldn't want to be away from you, my sweet Nami-swan~" Sanji almost sang and he noticed from the corner of his eye that Zoro was observing them, smiling. Sanji and Nami were the two people Zoro fought the most with and watching them argue meant that one of them eventually had to lose, so he was quite content with the current events. Especially since Zoro, more often than not, would lose in his arguments and fights with Nami, so seeing her defeated and forced to use her precious money made Zoro smile.

The main course went by in a blur and honestly Sanji would not have been able to tell you what anybody had eaten, just that they had eaten a lot of it. He did remember that he had had a lot of water for some reason, but water was a good thing... and a cheap thing, so whatever.

Despite this being their lunch, they decided to order some desserts just because they had heard the waitress being yelled at for not attracting enough customers and they couldn't help but feel sorry for her as she frantically apologized.

She took their orders and offered them drinks made by the establishment. They accepted and it wasn't long before the food and drinks arrived. It was then that Sanji noticed that something was wrong. This was a peaceful island and the few pirates they had spotted had acted very civil just buying supplies or enjoying some of the local attractions, but when Sanji looked around this 'restaurant' he got the feeling that these people did not have peaceful intentions. Sanji had also noticed that as people had existed the 'restaurant' no one had entered in quite a while and the people who were left had been there suspiciously long with nothing but a cup of coffee or a bottle of beer. The only voices to be heard were the Strawhats and the cute waitress who constantly wanted to know if they were comfortable and enjoying themselves. As Sanji didn't want to start looking suspicious himself he just activated his Haki and decided not to act unless someone could be confirmed as a threat.

When Sanji turned his attention back to his crew, they had been served a few bottles of beer, which the waitress was explaining were local delicacies. Zoro was of course the first person to reach for the beer, but was it normal for restaurants to serve bottles after they had been opened? Normally the waitress would open the bottle by the table to prove that it was new and had not been replaced with something else... Sanji shot a quick glance to the chef behind the counter and the smile he wore sent a chill down Sanji's spine.

"Don't drink that," Sanji yelled and smacked the bottle out of Zoro's hands before he could drink anything. The bottle smashed on the floor and for a moment the crew just looked at the spilt beer.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Zoro said annoyed as he turned his attention towards Sanji, who just gestured to the people behind him. Zoro immediately understood and a fight followed soon after. It had only been Sanji and Zoro who had been participating in the fight, while the crew had just cheered them on, but it did not last long. Their opponents really hadn't been anything but scrubs, which was probably why they had resorted to poison, since they would not have been able to take them on otherwise.

"Nami-san," Sanji said after the fight, which had left the whole building in a terrible state, "If we take all of their money, I can use that for dinner and we won't have to spend any of ours."

"What a good idea, Sanji-kun," Nami beamed and her eyes shone brightly.

"Does that mean you love me~?" Sanji responded lovingly and was half expecting a punch that never came.

"Yes, yes, I love you very much," Nami sighed, obviously just saying whatever would please him, and gathered her things. They left the restaurant and Sanji made a mental note to always be alert when they were eating out. They had just become to infamous for no one to recognize them and try to take those sweet bounty money for themselves. The world really was made of greedy people and this did not exclude the Strawhats.

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	19. Loss in the Kitchen & Victory in Battle

**I have nothing to say about this except that people wanted more interactions between Sanji and the person in the chapter, and since I enjoy writing about those two I'm not complaining. Enjoy!**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Loss in the kitchen and victory on the battlefield

As a cook it was Sanji's duty to come up with new interesting dishes every once in a while. This time he was working on a new dessert which was half inspired something he had tasted in the previous town they had visited and half something he had thought was a good idea. So Sanji had been working non-stop from morning all the way to noon and he now had his finished work.

The dessert was mainly made of a fluffy berry mousse, it had a bottom layer of dark chocolate and the in the middle was a small ball of milk chocolate which would spill out melted chocolate the instant it was broken. The whole thing was then covered in a smooth, transparent glaze that would give a bit of crunch and sweetness to the sour of the berries. The combination of the flavours chosen had been in perfect harmony in accordance to sweetness and sourness, and the dessert itself looked nothing but stunning. So Sanji looked at his finished work and after a while just sighed:

"I fucked up."

He wasn't certain where it had all gone wrong, but this dish had been good in theory and also doable in theory, hell this wasn't even that complicated of a dessert compared to other things he had done and was also quite good at. But this dish was far from prefect. The bottom chocolate layer was just a tad to bitter and ruined the overall harmony, the mousse had come out too thick and heavy for reasons Sanji couldn't quite comprehend, because it was just a mousse and he had done it plenty for times before. Sanji was sure he could create the perfect mousse in his sleep and with one hand tied to his back. The chocolate in the middle had a weird consistency and before long, the melted chocolate on the inside would begin to melt its shell away, which would then ruin the mousse, if not consumed at the very instant that it happened. The glaze which looked really nice, tasted slightly burnt even though it both looked and smelled perfectly fine and had never once been above a temperature where would actually start to burn. Besides, caramel turned brown when it burned, and this was still transparent. So Sanji was at a completely loss for words, because this dish should have been rather simple with the only hard task being how to put it all together at perfect temperatures, which Sanji had half succeeded and half failed at doing, but even then it should not have caused results as bad as these.

Sanji was now just sitting on a chair looking at a plate of a failed dessert and that is when Zoro walked into the kitchen, probably to ask for booze... or just take it, depending on his mood. Of course, Sanji was too absorbed in thinking about his failed dish to deny Zoro any alcohol even if he might have under normal circumstances, because it was still noon and that was too early for drinking. Sanji then whipped out a notebook and started writing down what his process had been down to the last detail and how the dish had turned out. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Zoro had seated himself opposite of him, drinking from new opened bottle, but he decided to ignore him for now. Sanji was a hell of lot more passionate about cooking than he was about getting in a fight with Zoro. Of course, his focused work on trying to figure out what he had done wrong made him miss that Zoro had very sneakily taken the plate of failed dessert and tasted it.

"Wow, what went wrong here?" Zoro said teasingly and Sanji knew that he was expecting some sort of annoyed comeback or possibly a kick to the face, but Sanji just looked at him and then sank down on the table, with his hair covering his face and sighed:

"I don't know..."

Clearly this was not the answer Zoro had expected because first he was speechless and then he leaned a little bit closer to whisper:

"Are you okay?" And damn if that wasn't the nicest thing Zoro had ever said to him... too bad that he was too depressed to comprehend how weird this situation was.

"I fucked up the dessert." Sanji just said, defeated.

"Well, I can understand that much but surely that's not the end of the world."

"You don't understand~" Sanji said as he lifted himself from the table and he realized just how spoiled he sounded, "You never make mistakes, you're always so goddamn perfect and amazing at what you do and Luffy always says that you are oh-so-strong. But me, I get praised for my cooking and now I fucked that up. What would you do if you lost a battle?" Zoro was about to say something, but Sanji cut him off, "And don't even think of saying shit like 'I promised I would never lose until I defeated Mihawk'. We both know that that is a shit promise and chances are that you can't keep that promise," Sanji had not meant for the conversation to turn in that direction, but to be fair, he had always wanted to call Zoro out on that. What kind of person promises someone that they'll never lose, knowing that there are people so much stronger than you in the world. When Zoro had made that promise, he had been miles from where he was today, and still, some of his battles were only _just_ won. What would have happened if they had run into those guys, when Zoro had been just a tad weaker?

"I guess that's the difference between us," Zoro said and took a swig of his drink, "You always know when you've met your match and that's where you draw the line. I cross the line you stop at."

Sanji would have argued against that, but this was what he admired about Zoro. Despite being stupid and having nothing but sheer strength to rely on, he always came through. He always found a way to grasp victory, even if it meant using a power he had yet to obtain and perfect. Zoro was everything Sanji hated: ill-mannered, disrespectful (especially towards women), cocky, and so much more that just pissed Sanji off to no end. Yet at the same time, Zoro was everything Sanji admired: strong willed, loyal, reliable, and somehow he was able to achieve the impossible. And that was probably what separated Zoro from the rest of them, and why he was Luffy's right hand man, because he too dreamed of the impossible, and Sanji believed that he would achieve the impossible.

"I guess you're right... even if you have a brain of moss," Sanji smirked and Zoro threw the now empty bottle after him.

"I'll eat your stupid dessert," Zoro then said and took the plate once again.

"Huh?" Sanji got confused.

"If I eat it, it can't count as a failure right?" Zoro said and ate the rest of the dessert. Sanji didn't protest, he just watched as Zoro finished the dessert, thanked him for the meal and left the kitchen. A smile found it's way to Sanji's lips. Who would have known that him making a mistake in the kitchen, would lead to this?

The next person Sanji fought was much stronger than him, but Sanji won the fight with skill, grace and a piece of good advice from a stupid swordsman.

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	20. Don't Cry

**A few hours late on the update, but according to my watch I still have a good half hour, so we're good ;) Okay, so three things before you read.**

 **1) WARNING: This chapter contains MAJOR SPOILERS for ANIME-ONLY'S as it reveals some MAJOR PLOT POINTS OF THE MANGA so if you are not caught up to around chapter 825 (I think), I would suggest NOT READING this chapter.**

 **2) This chapter is part of a request by _Amusingly Disturbed_ who requested a story involving the current arc (which is why there is a spoiler warning)**

 **3) This won't actually be a one-shot. This was orignially an idea for a longer story, but I kind of forgot what the main point of it was so I just rewrote some parts of the chapter I had already written to fit into a shorter story, but this means that this one will have TWO PARTS. There will be a spoiler warning on the next one too, but now you know that this chapter and the next are directly connected.**

 **Story set: During Whole Cake Island**

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Don't cry...

"I promise I'll be back. Tell everyone I said hi."

Holding Caesar captive and securing his own safety was all that Sanji could do for the time being. He had made sure to get Nami, Chopper and Brook to the safe paws of Nekomamushi and although he couldn't feel Capone's body moving, he was almost certain that they were no longer on Zou. The fake Capone and most of his men were no longer inside Capone's castle, but instead manning their ship, making their way to Whole Cake Island, where the Yonkou Big Mom was awaiting their arrival. Depending on where the elephant had been walking, it would probably be a couple of days until they arrived at the island, which gave Sanji plenty of time to formulate some sort of plan that would keep him out of harms way as well as insure his status as a single man. He could faintly hear Caesar mumbling some nonsense behind him, but Sanji didn't really care what the stupid gas clown was thinking, so he shut him out, trying to get a grip of his situation.

Sanji never really got very far as the floor beneath him suddenly started moving and he was ejected out of Capone's body. He was expecting to land on a hard surface and braced himself for the worst, when he just landed on a soft mattress.

"Enjoy the rest of the voyage," Sanji heard Capone say somewhere behind him, but before he could turn his head, the door had already been shut and locked. Sanji took a look around. The room was quite big and luxurious considering that it was supposed to be a prison cell, but then again, they had probably been instructed to treat him as a fucking porcelain doll with high standards or something shitty like that, so Sanji could only sigh. The room had no windows, but two doors, one of which Capone had locked and the other lead to a small bathroom, complete with a shower and everything. The bedroom had a big king sized bed with silk linens and big fluffy pillows that would have entertained Luffy for hours. There was a desk with a few books, a pen and some paper, as well as a closet with extra blankets and an extra set of clothes, which Sanji could only assume he would be forced to wear when they arrived at Whole Cake Island.

Sanji fell to the bed and resumed his thinking. The first thing to do was to round up the hard facts.

Sanji knew that he was wanted _only alive_ and he was being treated with care, meaning that someone with a whole lot of power (his father) would be quite angry with Capone if he were to get hurt. Being wanted _only alive_ meant that he could move more freely as he couldn't get killed, but at the same time he was alone in enemy territory, and the enemies were his family, who, even if Sanji didn't share history with, were strong as hell and well out of Sanji's league.

Sanji also knew that Big Mom wanted Caesar, but that his well being wasn't important (or at least not as important as his). He knew that Caesar had tricked them into giving him funds for his very immoral experiments, which meant that Big Mom probably wanted to punish him. Whether she wanted him dead or wanted him to work for her after she had tortured him, Sanji couldn't possibly hope to guess. The only important thing was that Caesar could still be used as a hostage and trading material.

Sanji knew that he was engaged to a stranger named Pudding who, apparently, was the 35th daughter of Big Mom herself. Sanji could hardly imagine what it must be like to give birth that many times, but he ended up concluding that Big Mom probably had more adoptive daughters than actual daughters, but that wasn't really relevant. The fact of the matter was that Sanji was to get married to some girl, and as much as he loved women and all there was to them, he also knew that getting married would mean that he would no longer be a Strawhat and there was no way in hell that he was going to let that happen. Sanji was very proud to be a part of the Strawhats and he loved everyone from his crew very dearly (yes, even the goddamn marimo).

Lastly, Sanji knew that his little farewell and promise of coming back would be believed by approximately no one and his Captain was not the kind of guy, who would let anyone from his crew get taking away. Look at what happened with Robin. When the Captain declares war against the world for a single woman to be saved, you know there is no stopping him from getting back his cook, when Luffy's one true love was and always would be: Food. The only thing was that Luffy and the rest needed to reach Zou (which would take a while, since Zunisha had been walking away from Dressrosa). They also wouldn't leave Dressrosa until everyone was fully healed (or claimed they were) and even though Luffy, Law and Zoro were strong, so was Doflamingo. Moreover, he was a cunning bastard, who had no doubt been difficult for Luffy to deal with, but Sanji had never had a speck of doubt that Luffy could take him down. Sanji remembered well the day he, Nami, Chopper and Brook had gathered around the newspaper to read about the events of Dressrosa and Doflamingo's fall from power.

When Luffy would eventually reach Zou, there would still be explaining and (some) planning to do before they could come after Sanji and this was all according to Sanji's best case scenario. There was no telling what could happen, since Luffy was a trouble magnet and Sanji wouldn't be surprised if Luffy ran into a Yonkou or two while he was taking a casual stroll through a forest.

All of this meant that Sanji had to keep himself from getting married (or killed if he just resisted too much) until his crew came for him, and they most certainly would come for him, the question was just: How? He'd be deep in Yonkou territory and his 'family' would be there. Now, Sanji wasn't a big fan of calling the Vinsmokes his family as he 1) hated all of them and 2) regarded his crew as his only family.

Sanji rolled over onto his side and stared at locked door. He wanted to get away. He wanted to get away so badly. He wanted to escape, run away and never face this part of life ever again, but he knew that that was both not an option and also the cowardly thing to do and the New World had no time to spare for cowards. Sanji could only hope that Luffy would come and save him from this mess before it destroyed him, because, right now, Sanji felt nothing but fear and loneliness, and he began to realize just how much he needed his crew to be strong. With his crew Sanji had no doubts and no fears, he felt warm, happy, wanted... and now as he got closer and closer to the ones whom he had tried so hard to reject and forget, he once again felt cold, afraid and lost. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't, not yet. His tears were his fear of the past and his love for his crew. His tears were a sign of weakness in the eyes of the enemy and a sign of having been strong for too long in the eyes of his friends. His tears would never spill in front of those he heated, but he would cry a river once he was back with his loved ones. He curled closer into himself and clung to the memories of his crew as sleep whisked him away.

Sanji awoke to the sound of something scratching the floor and saw a tray of food being pushed through a small opening in the door. Sanji knew that it would do no good to deny the food and he wasn't going to waste it, so he picked up the tray and began eating. Under normal circumstances, Sanji was a big food enthusiast, being a cook and all that, but at the moment he wasn't even tasting the food, even though it looked quite delicious (but Sanji could've made this in his sleep and it would probably still taste better). Sanji had gone back to thinking. It had been eight days since Luffy had beaten Doflamingo, which meant that they could arrive at Zou at any minute now. However, there were still things to sort out. Even if Sanji was lucky and Luffy arrived the same day that he had been kidnapped (yes this was a kidnapping), he knew very well that travelling at night, especially in the New World, was risky and there was no way they would leave before the next morning and apart from all of that, there was still the issue of the Samurai. Sanji was, as it turns out, in on the big secret relationship between the minks and the Samurai of the Kouzuki clan. Sanji had been drinking with Inuarashi one day and the dog had accidentally let it slip that they were in fact protecting Raizou (though very much against his will) and Sanji would be lying if he said that the whole story hadn't brought a tear to his eye. But just because they were on good terms and Kinemon arriving wouldn't result in a big war, it did not leave out the fact that there was a lot of unfinished business concerning the minks and the Samurai, and Luffy would of course be there to help out however he could.

There was also the issue of Kaido. By defeating Doflamingo, Kaido was sure to go after them and Law would be sure to keep reminding them of that fact and no matter how amazing Luffy was, he could not have a war with two Yonkou at the same time, which made Sanji rethink his approach to the whole wedding thing. Of course, he was still against getting married, but there had to be some way for them to get on Big Mom's good side. Disregarding the Vinsmokes, who most certainly couldn't be trusted, Sanji could easily get close to Big Mom with his skills as a cook and if he could turn Big Mom against the Vinsmokes and thus make the wedding a bad deal for her, everything would be great. Unfortunately, this was all a very optimistic idea in Sanji's head and there was no way he could make that happen... at least not as smoothly and problem free as wanted, but he could always try. For a moment Sanji thought he had some sort of plan formed in his head, until he remembered one crucial thing, smacked himself in the head and collapsed unto the bed. Luffy had already declared war on Big Mom back on Fishman Island, as well as taken some of her territory... great.

Sanji was desperate for some way to turn this situation of his into something positive that could be of help to the crew, because if he did not that would make him the sole reason that the crew had more problems than they could handle at the moment. Sanji wasn't one for feeling guilty, especially not over something as stupid as this, seeing as he had done nothing to provoke a kidnapping and an arranged marriage, but some situations are just different and right now Sanji was feeling so guilty he might as well throw up. Having Kaido, Big Mom and the Vinsmokes as their enemies at the same time was not something they would be able to handle, even with Law by their side, who, last Sanji had seen him (and heard him), was in a very critical health state. He was alive according to the newspaper and Sanji knew that Luffy wouldn't let him die even if he wanted to (again look at Robin), but there was no telling what condition he was in.

They had all trained for two years to become stronger, so that nothing could separate them again and yet, they kept getting separated by stronger powers. When Big Mom had come for them in Dressrosa, they had had no choice but to flee, because they were nowhere near strong enough to take on a Yonkou _and_ a Shichibukai at the same time and now this. Sanji cursed himself for not being stronger, cursed the world for keeping them apart and cursed the godforsaken blood he had running through his veins. He almost screamed, but only almost, because despite his self loathe, he was painfully aware of his situation and he could not afford to show any weakness.

Since there were no windows in his fancy prison cell, Sanji found it hard to tell the time, but judging by the meal and the time it had been when they had left Zou, it was safe to say that the day was almost over. Sanji could only hope that it would take him a long time to reach Big Mom and Luffy a short time to reach him.

Sanji decided to sleep and judge tomorrow when it came.

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 **Okay, I hope you enjoyed that :) The second part will be up on Tuesday, so look forward to that. If you liked it please fave and follow for future updates. Please leave a review with your thoughts, they are always greatly appreciated and feel welcome to start a discussion or ask questions as I try to reply to everything :)**


	21. Over Spilt Milk

**And here is part two. Enjoy!**

 **EDIT: So I said in the previous chapter that I would give clear spoiler warning, yet I completely forgot so here it is. This chapter contains MAJOR SPOILERS for all ANIME-ONLY'S if you are NOT CAUGHT UP with the events of the MANGA I would suggest skipping this chapter.**

 **Story set: During Whole Cake Island**

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… over spilt milk

Sanji awoke to the sound of the hatch opening and a tray with breakfast sliding through. For a second he had forgotten where he was and had expected to wake up to serve his friends and the minks some delicious food, but reality hit him hard and his expression dropped. Sanji obediently ate the food and placed the tray by the hatch when he was done. Afterwards he took a shower. As he showered he closed his eyes, focused on the slight rocking of the ship and pretended that he was on the Sunny. He hummed the tunes to _Bink's Saké_ and imagined Brook playing his violin on deck. He recalled the laughter of Luffy, Usopp and Chopper as the ran around playing tag or some other game and he imagined Zoro yelling at then when they woke him from his nap and Robin chuckling at the sight. He imagined Nami's voice telling Franky to steer the ship away from an approaching storm and Franky's responding voice. The memories of his crew would give him the strength he needed to carry on and when he had cleared his mind of all his fears, he turned off the water and put together a definitive plan.

It took them almost a week to get to Whole Cake Island (it wasn't actually Whole Cake Island, but one of the Totlands where they had their first stop) and in that time Sanji had played the role of a difficult prisoner, while carefully observing his enemies. So far they had tried to sway him with an empty promise of sparing his friends and showing him how beautiful miss Pudding was, and although he had been shocked that his fiancée was nowhere near as ugly as he had expected, he was still firmly against the marriage. However, she was a crucial part of his plan and he could only hope that Big Mom loved her daughters dearly. Sanji had been told that upon arriving he would be allowed a meeting with her and as a good tactician he had tricked them into allowing the meeting to be private. The meeting would set off the first step in his plan.

They arrived at Whole Cake Island in the early afternoon and Sanji had been slightly surprised at the fact that it was snowing cotton candy, but seeing as this was the Grand Line and the island itself was made of cake, it really shouldn't have surprised him. He was then taken to shore and guided to a small caramel garden, where he was told to wait for Pudding. After the guards had left he waited for five minutes until she arrived and it stung his heart, if just a tiny bit, that he could not allow himself a chance with this girl, because she was by all definitions a beauty. She was almost as tall as him, but with a kind face and a lovely smile. Her hair was long, brown and curly, but carefully tied in two pigtails to show her face. She wore baggy trousers and a tight blouse, which complimented her figure, but without revealing too much. She was truly a sight for the eyes, but Sanji could not let himself be swayed by the mere looks of a pretty girl and composed himself. He acted the part and however bad he might feel for using a woman, his crew was always first priority and he wouldn't be directly hurting her... besides she couldn't be too on board with this arranged marriage either. So he played the part of the charming prince, who sadly couldn't be with her and he made sure to point out all the things they had in common and emphasise just how horrible it was that he couldn't marry her.

This was the first part of the plan. He had to make this girl like him. It didn't matter if she fell in love with him or not, she just had to like him. At the same time she had to be aware of the fact that he was against the marriage and also be fine with it. Only with these two conditions could Sanji move on to the next part of his plan. Sanji's ultimate goal was an audience with Big Mom herself and he would be able to gain that through Pudding.

As the meeting came through an end, Sanji thought that he had succeeded, but one last look at Pudding told him that he hadn't. She had been acting just as much him. There was no love in her eyes, just calm calculation and Sanji cursed as he walked away from her. He had to find a new way to get to Big Mom.

Sanji boarded Capone's ship once again and was escorted into his comfy prison cell, where he was told he would be for another day. This allowed Sanji to find a new approach to his plan. It would have been easiest to have Pudding on his side when trying to persuade Big Mom to call off the marriage, because it's hard to marry two people who are both against it, but Pudding could not be trusted, so he had to find some other way. The best way to call off the marriage would be to convince Big Mom that the Vinsmokes were out to use her and that she wouldn't actually gain anything from the marriage.. or convince her that she someone as powerful as her shouldn't settle for the third son. He gathered that the first option would be the best solution as it would completely terminate any alliance between the forces, as well as hopefully give his family a really strong and powerful enemy. Sanji thought out the details of his plan B before he decided to sleep.

They arrived at Whole Cake Island with the rising of the sun and Sanji took in the sight. The island was a large cake to put it simply. A bit crooked in places, but it was standing and Sanji wondered what they did if the food ever turned. He supposed they would eat it and replace it with fresh cake, but maybe the magic of the place would allow it to never go bad, who knew? When the ship had docked Sanji was escorted by Capone and ten of his men to the castle where big Mom herself lived. So far he had only been told that he would be given a room, which he would not leave until told otherwise. Sanji had of course agreed, because doing anything else would be stupid, but that didn't mean that he was actually going to do as he was told. They walked for quite some time and they even passed the capital, Sweet City, which Sanji would have loved to explore further, but if he was going to stay in the castle, chances was that he was going to be surrounded by sweets anyway. When they finally arrived at the castle Capone reported to a guard and they were let inside. Sanji really wanted to stay and examine this candy castle, but before he could even get a good look he was guided by some of Big Mum's men up a staircase made of caramel and mint and into a grand bedroom. This bedroom was so big that Sanji was sure that the Going Merry could have fit inside it and he spent a good thirty seconds just looking at it. He faintly heard to door getting closed, but not locked, behind him, which probably meant that they were sure that he wouldn't be stupid enough to try to escape... or smart enough to pull it off. Despite the size of the room there wasn't much in it, it was mostly decorations and some basic furniture. There was a big, fancy bed, of course, with night stands, oil lamps and empty frames. There was a closet which could fit all the clothes which the strawhats owned and more. There was a chandelier with coloured candles and golden flames and a rug made from a polar bear bigger than Sanji had ever seen them. Opposite the door was a balcony. It was facing the ocean and from the position of the sun and the time of the day, Sanji figured that he would be able to see the sunset from his room. There was no door leading to a bathroom, but since they had left the door open there would be no need for them to provide him with a room that had an attached bathroom.

As Sanji admired his new room and took a little bite of a chair made of a rich chocolate he heard the chiming of a bell. Having no idea what it meant Sanji peaked outside and found a guard right outside his room and asked what it was all about. The guard then explained that the bell would chime five times a day, one for each meal Big Mom would eat. Sanji let out a quiet laugh as he thought of his gluttonous captain he could probably eat just as much as Big Mom despite her being many times Luffy's size. Sanji had yet to see Big Mom, but he had heard the rumours and from his experience, the rumours heard on the Grand Line tended to be true. Especially the crazy ones.

Sanji went back into his room and walked out on the balcony. There were two guards standing by a small open gate beneath him, but other than them there was no one in sight. So Sanji jumped. He jumped right down and landed on one of the guards and kicked the other before he knew what had happened. They were both out cold before Sanji's feet hit the ground. Sanji then proceeded to look through the gate and was met with a lively courtyard. There were people of all manners and races in the yard, all doing there own thing. Some where carrying laundry, some were sparring with wooden swords, but most were carrying food. Whether it be cooked food or sweets, or raw meat and heavy cream, it didn't matter, what was important was that it could lead Sanji to the kitchens.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a boy. He was younger than him, probably also younger than Luffy, but he was just as tall as Sanji and he carried a basket of eggs. It did not take Sanji long to see which direction he was going in and decided to follow him hoping it would lead him to the kitchens. He had only been following the boy for a minute when the boy stopped and in a short conversation confirmed that he was, in fact, going to the kitchens. Sanji then waited until the boy rounded a corner, stole the basket and knocked the boy out. He switched their clothes and hid the boy away where he hopefully wouldn't be found for a good while, and perfected his disguise. He pulled his hair back and tied it into a small ponytail and kept his fringe long enough to cover his right eyebrow, but not his eye, as one covered eye was his trademark look. He then took the basket and disguised as what he assumed was the look of Big Mom's kitchen boys, he made his way to the kitchens.

The kitchens were loud and crowded. There were many sections, some for fish, some for chicken, some for beef, but most for different kinds of sweets. Sanji delivered the eggs to the woman who yelled at him for being late and decided that until he had learned more about the habits and specific duties of the kitchen he would allow himself to be ordered around. Needlessly to say he was given the cliché and boring job of peeling potatoes. Fortunately for Sanji, a boring job that did not require leaving the kitchens was just what he needed, because now he could listen in on conversations without people questioning why he was where he was.

Sanji learned that the next meal for Big Mom was to be served during tea time at three o'clock. Apparently the theme this time was chocolate, so all the snacks would have to contain just that. There was a big clock in the middle of the main kitchen, which Sanji could only just see and he made sure to work fast so that he would be done in time to get his plan started. With only half an hour left until tea time Sanji finished peeling all the potatoes and snuck into a kitchen labelled: _soft sweets._ There were only three people, only problem was that one of them was a girl, so Sanji couldn't hurt her. He had no other kitchen to go to though, because they were all filled with many people and if he took out too many chefs, people would notice the lack of food. So Sanji just had to improvise a little. He took out the dudes and before the girl could scream he covered her mouth and smiled at her.

"Hi," he started, "You don't know me, but I want to make the best sweet Big Mom has ever tasted, but I would really like an assistant, won't you help me?"

"How can I know that you don't want to kill her? You could poison the food!" She protested, but still quietly as she was most likely afraid that he would kick her too should she scream for help.

"I promise I won't and to prove it too you, I'll eat a bit of it myself when I'm done, sounds good?"

The girl nodded, but Sanji was sure that she was still scared of him. Not that he could blame her though, but he needed to work here and he didn't have time to convince her further. So they got to work and Sanji made the best chocolate cake he could (it was almost an insult to call it a cake, because it truly was so much more), which he was sure would impress the Yonkou. When he was done and the girl had taken the food to whoever would pass it on to Big Mom, he went back to the woman who had yelled at him and took a new order from her. This time he was to clean the kitchens before the chefs came back for their break.

Half past three Sanji was not even close to being done cleaning, but a guard came to the kitchen with an announcement. He asked for the chef who had made the chocolate cake and Sanji quickly made himself known. The guard then let him out of the kitchens and into the great dining hall where Big Mom herself was sitting. To Sanji's big surprise Big Mom was dining with a familiar and friendly face, namely Jinbe, and it seemed that Jinbe was just as surprised as him. However, his presence alone gave Sanji the courage he needed.

"Are you the chef who made this cake?" Big Mom said and Sanji stood straight as he answered:

"Yes, my lady, I made it. Did you find it to your liking?"

And she laughed: "Find it to my liking?! Boy! This is best thing I have ever put in my mouth and I have had a lot in my mouth, but boy, you are no chef of mine. You are Black Leg Sanji, and as far as I am concerned you swore, not even a day ago, to only make food for your friends. Do you consider the two of us friends?"

Sanji smiled and as a chef he choose to ignore the fact that he was speaking to a Yonkou and pretend that she was just a normal person whom he had cooked for.

"Unfortunately I cannot consider us friends as we have only just met, my lady," Sanji did remember to address her formally, because he honestly feared the worst if he accidentally disrespected her, "but I assure you that I bare no ill intent."

"If information and memory serve me right, you should be in a room in the castle and the guards should keep you there. Now, I will not blame you for leaving, you are a pirate and freedom is what you seek, but why did you make this for me?"

Sanji was surprised that Big Mom was as friendly as she was, but he suspected that there might be more to it than sheer kindness.

"I merely wanted an audience with you, my lady, and I heard that you liked sweets, so as a chef myself, I felt it my duty to share my talents with you."

"An audience you say, and what do you want now that you have it?"

"I would like to warn you about my family, my lady."

"You say you want to warn me, yet all I hear is you protesting to marry my daughter. Is she not good enough for you?" Sanji detected a hint of a threat, but remained confident.

"You are right, my lady, I am opposed to this marriage, though it has nothing to do with your lovely daughter, truth be told, she is one of the most beautiful woman I have seen. However, I truly believe that you are making a mistake with this wedding, think about it, my lady. You are marrying your daughter to the third son of a royal family, who doesn't have land nor a people to rule. Is it not an insult to someone as powerful as you to have you settle for the third in line? My family is hungry for power, my lady, and marrying me off is a part of their great plan. You see, as a pirate I live outside the law, and would it not be convenient for them to claim the marriage illegitimate as soon as they have what they want? They do not want to be publicly associated with pirates, because their aim lies within the world government, so what do you stand to gain through this marriage if they are unwilling to cooperate?"

Big Mom was silent for a while and Sanji suspected that she might just kill him then and there, and then demand that Pudding would wed one of his brothers, but then she laughed. And she laughed for a long time as Sanji and Jinbe just watched in silence.

Finally the laugher died and she responded: "You are brave like your captain, Black Leg, brave and reckless. There is a good chance that you are lying, but then again I cannot claim to trust you family, but tell me now, if you do not marry my daughter, why should I not kill you? Your captain wants to steal Fishman Island from me and if I recall he said something along the lines of wanting to kick my butt across the New World. I have no reason to keep you alive, when the person you work for is my enemy."

"On the contrary, my lady, I believe you and my captain would gain more from being friends than enemies. Now, understand that my captain does not want to work for you, but he does not want you to work him either. What I would suggest is a truce and perhaps a friendly relationship where we do not mind each others businesses. However, as my captain is quite stubborn it would be hard for him to give up his claim on Fishman Island, but in exchange for the island, we will give you three islands and I will be your personal chef until my crew comes for me."

"Let's say that I agree to this, which islands would you give me? I have not heard of any island which lives under your captain's flag."

"It will be three islands of your choosing, my lady, as long as the islands you chose lie within Kaido's territory."

She laughed again: "Kaido! You want to take some Kaido's territory and you expect to live after that?!"

"Don't get me wrong, my lady. We will not take some of Kaido's territory. We will defeat him and take all of it." Much of what Sanji had said could be doubted, by both Big Mom and himself, but this he didn't doubt. It didn't matter how strong Kaido was, if the Strawhats went against him, he would lose.

"You amuse me, boy!" Big Mom laughed again, "I do not compromise when I want something, but you and your captain interest me. For now, I will remember your offer, but I will not call off the wedding. As thanks for the cake I will not mention a word of this to your father, any member of your family or anyone associated with the Germa, but do not think that you have won, boy. If I find out that your family truly had no hidden agenda in this marriage, I can not guarantee the safety of your crew. Now leave. Jinbe, please escort our guest to his room."

Sanji gave a slight bow and followed Jinbe out the room. They both remained silent until the were safe from all ears in Sanji's room.

"I had not expected you to be the one who would marry Pudding," Jinbe said and eyed Sanji.

"What? Big Mom didn't tell you?"

"I only just arrived and was informed about the Vinsmokes, but to think that you came from that family... Luffy sure has a wide range of people in his crew."

Sanji laughed, "He does, and his offer is still open," Sanji smiled happily as Jinbe being there made everything so much better, "We all want you to join, and hopefully soon."

"Well, nothing is better than the present, right?" Jinbe answered and Sanji's eyes lit up. Jinbe was joining!

The two of them talked for a while, first it was mostly chit chat. A little about Fishman Island, a little about what Luffy had been up to and so on, but the conversation soon turned to a more strategic one. Sanji gave Jinbe all the information he had about his family and all the suspicions he had about them, and Jinbe informed him of Big Mom's nature, power and goals. The conversation ended when Sanji was summoned to the kitchens as he had promised to keep cooking for Big Mom.

So far everything seemed to go well and according to plan, but Luffy would soon arrive and only the gods could know what troubles he would bring with him. Sanji didn't mind too much though. Jinbe's presence made him feel more at ease, and as long as trouble just came after Luffy's arrival, it would be okay. Luffy would save him from whatever he needed to be saved from, be it Big Mom, his family or both of them. Luffy would save him, Sanji was sure of that.

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	22. Into the Rabbit Hole

**This chapter is a based on a request from GPEG. Full request will be included in the end notes to avoid spoiling the contents of the chapter :)**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Into the rabbit hole

We all know the feeling of getting way too deep into something. We are so absorbed in the thing we do, so we cut off anything that is unnecessary, anything that could be a distraction and anyone who does not have a place in the little world we have created. On the strawhats, everyone had that one thing that just pulled them into another world and could keep them there for hours, and for all of them, it was the most predictable things that drove each of them in.

Robin was obviously the book worm. It was actually quite ironic how the arguably most mysterious person amongst them had the most predictable and cliché hobby. As a true book worm, Robin could sit with a book for hours, while only moving when she found her body stiff from sitting in the same position for too long. She was usually also quite distant when she really got into it. Sometimes the boys (Luffy, Usopp and Chopper) would see how close they could get to her without her noticing, and sometimes they would try some stupid things like styling her hair or drawing on her face. The latter never succeeded, but sometimes she would end up with a funny hairstyle, though Sanji half suspected that she let them do it because it was amusing.

Franky and Usopp were the gadget freaks and more often than not the two of them would forget that other people actually lived on the Sunny. Sanji had many tales of times where they had built something on deck which had then exploded and nearly hurt others in the process. Sanji would certainly never forget the day they had dared to enter his kitchen and as a result of some very stupid experiment, which Sanji could never get behind, the kitchen had been set on fire. Needlessly to say both Usopp and Franky had more injuries than burns when the incident was over.

Nami was another obvious one. On calm days she would sit under the sun and draw her maps, undisturbed, calmly, peacefully. She would be surrounded by large pieces of the finest parchment and the most expensive ink, and with a steady and precise hand she would draw her maps. It would be the maps of islands they had visited together, maps of islands she had visited in the past or improved maps made with the information of many others. She would be silent and no one would disturb her unless there was a change in weather... but usually she would be the one to point that out.

Brook was the musician and you would think that it would be the music which would draw him in, but in reality it was the writing of it. Many of Brook's pieces had no lyrics, but those which had always told a story. Brook has a song for every adventure they had been on, even the ones Brook had only heard stories of. He had a song for each of them, which spoke of their dreams and ambitions. Sanji's favorite was the song of the future pirate king, though when asked he would always claim his favorite to be the one about tangerines. When Brook wrote a song his humming slowed down and his hand would move slowly as he carefully chose the words he would later sing to all of them. He would usually do this in the kitchen as Sanji always provided him with tea whenever his cup ran dry, so Sanji would sometimes have the pleasure of being the first to listen to a new song.

Chopper was a botanist (and a doctor) and though Chopper shared the garden with Robin (she loved flowers), Usopp (pop greens didn't come from nothing) and Sanji (he preferred working with fresh herbs), Chopper spend the most time there. Chopper was connected to nature in a way no one else was, and as he couldn't really jump into the ocean, the garden provided him with the comfort he found in the natural world. Chopper could also easily spend hours in their little garden, just tending their plants and whatever Usopp's... _things_ could be called and as a result they had a very prosperous garden.

Zoro was also quite predictable. He practically owned the crow's nest as he had his weights and various training gear stored there, and spend half his day in the room. On some days he would only come down for meals, which meant that Chopper was keeping an extra eye on him, just in case. Occasionally Zoro would ask Sanji for a sparring match. Of course, asking meant insulting him and then attacking him, but Sanji didn't mind, he enjoyed sparring with Zoro, especially when the stupid swordsman got overconfident. The look on his defeated face always made Sanji's day. Their score was pretty even, leaning a bit in Zoro's favour, but Sanji blamed the fact that Zoro only spend time on training while Sanji had other duties, so it wasn't really fair. Usually it was the one who wanted to try something new who lost, just because they had no clue whether the idea they had in their head would work or not. One time Sanji had lost because he wanted to see if he could heat up Zoro's swords with his fire and thus make him drop them... it hadn't worked out too well. Another time Zoro had lost because he wanted to cut through Sanji's fire... he had went to Chopper with a burnt arm. They had also tried things like walking on water or stealing each others moves... in their own way. The first thing might sound mad, but Brook could do it and Sanji could walk on air, so water shouldn't be much different, right? The should have known that the Grand Line was known for spontaneous tsunamis. The other one was interesting... Zoro had always wanted a flaming sword, while Sanji would love to send flying blades with his legs to make up for him being a mostly short distant fighter and very weak to blade users. Armament haki was a good counter to some blades, but not those infused with haki. Sanji wasn't the only who was weak to blades, Luffy was in the same boat and Zoro loved pointing out how useless they both were to swordsmen. The comment would usually end in Zoro being injured.

Luffy was both predictable, while also being a mystery. He had the attention span of a goldfish and it was rare that something caught his attention for too long, but a good fight and a great challenge would do it. Watching Luffy fight was a true pleasure. He would go from a happy-go-lucky boy to the dependable captain he was and his eyes would show no sign of ignorance nor idiocy. Sure he did some weird things in fights, but everything held a purpose. Luffy was a pure fighting genius and Sanji sometimes wondered why these talents couldn't be transferred into non-violent situations. It was like something in Luffy's brain switched and he suddenly became a mastermind. It had been apparent to Sanji from Luffy's very first fight against Don Krieg. Luffy had distracted him to hide away his true purposes and lured him into traps. While Don Krieg had tried to fight in a territory which was highly disadvantageous to Luffy, he had still been at Luffy's mercy by the end. Against Crocodile he had found his weakness through a fight he had lost. Against Enel he had not only been the first to remember that lightning was ineffective against rubber, but he had also known that gold conducted electric static and had literally defeated Enel with the impressive powers of basic physics concepts. Against Rob Lucci he had pretended to be hot headed and having no plan, which made Lucci let his guard down and Franky slipped past him before he could stop him. Against Moria he had used his own past experience with the shadows to pinpoint his weakness. Against Hordy Jones he had taken advantage of his arrogance. Against Caesar he had taken advantage of his overconfidence and against Doflamingo he had destroyed all the plans the scheming Shichibukai had thought out and overthrown him. Sanji prided himself in being a smart person, but he probably couldn't get close to the way Luffy's brain worked. He didn't mind though, intelligence was different from person to person, and Sanji's quick thinking had saved them more than once.

Sanji was a passionate chef and having a day where he barely left the kitchen wasn't rare and today was one of those days. They had just left an island, which meant that Sanji had main land ingredients like beef and chicken to work with, unlike when they had been at sea for three weeks and they only had fish. So Sanji was making sure to make the best of these ingredients and his mind was focused solely on the food. This meant that he didn't really pay attention to the time and as dinner time enrolled the kitchen got crowded. Though Sanji was cooking and unknowingly serving the food, as he moved habitually, he hadn't actually registered that he wasn't in fact alone and that lead Sanji to slip up. When his mind wonders and his hands do their job, Sanji could very easily start humming or maybe even start singing, and that was exactly what happened, only Sanji wasn't completely aware of it. The others were though, and Sanji really should have come back to reality when the strawhats were being unusually quiet, but no, he still somehow thought that he was alone in the kitchen. Sanji was singing an old song he'd heard back at the Baratie. It was a song he knew by heart and could also play really well on the piano despite the song being relatively difficult. It was slow, a bit jazzy and fit Sanji's voice really well and had he tuned around and just looked, he would have found the entire crew just staring at him. Some were shocked since it was quite late to discover Sanji's singing talent and others were simply enjoying his voice. There were of course also those who already knew that he could sing, like Franky, who just smiled knowlingly.

What brought Sanji back to reality was when Brook started playing the song on his violin. Sanji immediately stopped everything he was doing and turned to face his crew. They were looking intensely at him and Luffy's big smile made Sanji blush out of pure embarrassment. He ended up hiding behind the counter, while he just buried his face in his hands and whispered _idiot_ to himself.

"Sanji~" Luffy called, and Sanji did not like his tone, "Sing more!" Yes, Luffy liked his music.

"No..." Sanji weakly answered still hiding behind the counter.

"What? Are you refusing an order from you captain?" Zoro teased and Sanji could _hear_ the smirk on his lips. He kept silent for a while, but eventually gave in because there was no escaping his captain's stubbornness.

"What do you want me to sing?" He asked, but still refused to leave his spot.

"Hmm~" Luffy pondered for a while, "You decide!"

So Sanji chose a song about dreams, which always reminded him of Luffy, and tried his best not to mess it up, because if asked, he'd much rather crawl into a hole in the ground than be here. When the song was finished, Sanji gathered the courage to take a peek at his crew mates and the first thing he saw was Zoro's stupid face, looking mighty as hell, which made Sanji forget all embarrassment. He threw the closest thing to him, a notebook, after Zoro and caught be surprise, it hit him straight in the face. Laughter erupted as Zoro got equally as annoyed as Sanji was, and people made sure to save their food from the turmoil of the fight between the two rivals. Sanji didn't have many regrets in life, but this might be one of them.

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 **GPEG's request:** _ **a chapter in which Sanji is forced to sing because he discovered again**_

 **If you enjoyed reading, then please fave and follow for more. I'd also appreciate a review with your thoughts or any food related headcannons you want me to write a chapter on :)**


	23. A Fish out of Water

**Okay so this is based on a requst by guest reviewer Mewsugarpudd. Full request will be included in the endnotes.**

 **I'm honestly not quite sure where this story went. It's like it had a mind of its own... But yeah, there are two riddles included in this story, so see if you can solve them before I give the answer ;)**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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A fish out of water

Sanji wasn't completely sure how he had ended in this situation. He had never once in his life expected to find himself where he was, not because he was invincible, but because he didn't think himself desired... at least not in this way. At the moment, Sanji was on an unfamiliar boat sailing who-knows-where, while he was bound on hands and feet with iron chains, making any escape close to impossible. The odd thing was that he didn't know why he was where he was. He had tried asking, but the answer had been kick to the stomach or a punch to the head, though they were never rough enough to leave any lasting damage. So Sanji could only sit tight until they reached their destination and then await Luffy's arrival. Thinking of Luffy, he must be freaking out at the moment, not because Sanji himself wasn't there, but because they had no one to cook for them. Sure, he would be sad that Sanji wasn't there, but he knew his captain had faith in his strength, so the panic would erupt because none of them could cook for shit. Okay, that wasn't true, Nami and Usopp had some decent skills in cooking, but compared to Sanji... well, let's not go there.

This might be the time for an explanation. Sanji had been kidnapped. Yup, you got that right. Kidnapped. Why? He had no clue. By who? He still didn't know. How? Well, that was easier to answer. Sanji had been in the kitchen, no surprise there, and he had been cooking, what a shocker! So Sanji had simply been minding his own business, when everything had gotten a bit hazy. He had first started to feel a little light headed and then came the weakness. He had stumbled to his knees and then he had try to call out, but his voice was replaced with coughs and then his eyes had blackened, and next thing he knew he was on another ship, in a small cabin where he had been tied to a pole. The cabin was empty save for a few wooden boxes and barrels, which Sanji guessed contained food and drinks. There was much more food here than what the Sunny had in storage, which meant that this ship was either heavily manned or was headed for a far away destination. Sanji hoped that it was the former, if his crew were to find him. It wasn't so much that Sanji needed saving, it was more the fact that if they couldn't find him, he wouldn't really have anywhere to go... Well, they had Nami, so navigation shouldn't be a problem, and judging from the amount of times Luffy bursted into the kitchen, it wouldn't take them long to notice his absence.

So Sanji waited. He wasn't sure what exactly he waited for. Someone telling him where they were going or why they had taken him? Them arriving at the destination? Or maybe just Luffy screaming for someone to give him his cook back? If Sanji had to chose, he'd want the last thing to happen. It didn't. Instead he noticed as the ship stopped moving and people yelling at each other to fold the sails and drop anchor. Not long after they came to Sanji. They removed the restraints from his legs and untied him from the pole, and dragged him along. He squinted when he walked out into the sun which was shining directly at him and it took him awhile to notice his surroundings. They were at a harbour, a normal harbour stationed at the edge of a prosperous town, which looked lively in all ways possible. It had people flowing in and out of the shops on the streets. There were plenty of food in the markets and a wide selection of artisans works in the boutiques. Sanji was dragged along on what he presumed was the main road as it was wide enough for several horse carriages to ride side by side and by the end of the road lay a castle. The scene was almost taken straight out of a fairy tale.

They walked for a good long while and Sanji suspected that they might actually be headed to the castle. He also got a better look at the ones who had kidnapped him and though he had first thought that they were pirates or bounty hunters, he now thought something else. They were all wearing the same blue uniform and they looked more like respectable marines than ferocious outlaws. They weren't marines though so Sanji guessed that they were some sort of royal army. They eventually reached the castle and as Sanji noticed that the guards wore very similar uniforms, he allowed himself the satisfaction of having guessed correctly. But now Sanji was left to wonder why the hell he been brought here. Obviously they had known that he was a strawhat, because they had gotten to their ship. Sanji didn't know whether or not they had recognized him from his bounty poster, because honestly that thing could not look any less like him, but if they had somehow put together that that was him, then why not take him straight to the marines, and if they hadn't recognized his poster, then how did they know they had the right guy? Maybe they didn't though? What if this was just a mix up? But no... They had boarded the Sunny, he was the only blonde guy, they wouldn't make a mistake... right? Sanji ended up accepting the fact that he was both confused and unaware of what was going on and he figured that he would be getting answers at some point.

He was brought into the castle and right before they passed through some very big and fancy doors, someone whispered _show respect_ in his ears, which tempted Sanji to do the exact opposite, but he decided to look at the situation before he acted. The doors opened to reveal a great hall. It resembled the throne room of Alabasta's Royal Palace, but it had less people than Sanji had always been met with in Alabasta and of course neither Vivi nor her father were there. Sanji was brought before the monarch and ended up standing in front of a great number of stairs, which lead to the throne which she sat upon. The Queen.

She was wearing a bright yellow dress, which glinted like the sun with its many diamonds and gemstones, and the luminous colour perfectly brought our her beautiful sun kissed skin. She had curly brown hair and on top of her head, placed perfectly in the mess of some curls, was her crown. It shone just as much as the gemstones on her dress if not more and the only thing that could match their glow was her eyes. Her eyes beamed with life and grace, and she looked like a kind queen and ruler.

"Are you the one they call Black Leg Sanji?" The Queen asked him and he was silent for a moment, stunned by her beauty.

"I am, my Queen," he answered respectfully, as he had been told, but how could he not act like a gentleman in the eyes of a goddess.

The Queen whispered something to one of her advisors and he whispered something else, and then the attention was back on Sanji.

"Would you do me a favour?" The Queen smiled and as she did her chubby cheeks rounded and damn if she couldn't get anymore perfect.

"Anything for you, my Queen~" Sanji answered as if he was completely entranced by her, which to be fair was kind of the case. But who could blame him? A beautiful woman just asked him for a favour, he couldn't possibly turn her down.

"Could you perhaps... cook me a meal?" She said lovingly and Sanji beamed. He got to show off his skills to her! Oh, what a glorious day!

"I'll cook you the best meal you have ever tasted~" And he did. He poured his heart and soul into this dish and the only other people who would ever have the pleasure of eating food like this was the strawhats. It never once occurred to Sanji that there was something fishy about this situation.

But the dish got served, eaten and enjoyed, and Sanji was once again summoned before the Queen.

"You surpassed my expectations, Black Leg," the Queen said and Sanji was on cloud nine, "The rumours about you don't do you justice, but I feel like your talent is wasted."

"I don't think they are wasted if I cook for people like you, My Dear Queen~"

"I agree," she said and smiled, but it wasn't her sweet smile from earlier, this was different, "I will have you as my personal chef."

And with that sentence, Sanji was woken from his wonderful dream and his face got colder.

"And if I refuse?" Sanji said now looking at the Queen like she was his worst enemy.

"You won't," the Queen simply said, and she sounded just like when Luffy gave an order, confident and absolute.

"I will," Sanji answered harshly, and turned around to walk away. They had taken his restraints off when he had been cooking and they hadn't cared to put them back on as he seemed so willing to do whatever the Queen wanted.

Sanji didn't get very far as he suddenly found himself surrounded by at least thirty guards who pointed their swords at him. Sanji knew that asking nicely wouldn't get him anywhere, so he decided to just force his way out. He charged directly at the one who was standing nearest the door and took him down effortlessly by kicking him and then sending him flying straight into three other guards. He then turned around and kicked the ones who were now charging after him and then ran out of the throne room.

To his great disappointment, the entrance he originally had gone through to get inside the castle was now closed and the gate was far too big and heavy for Sanji to kick down, so he decided that there had to be some other way out and made a left. He soon found himself running up a narrow staircase and after having climbed at least three floors he started to regret his decision as he could hear people following him. There had yet to be a way to escape the staircase other than either going back down or keep climbing, not that the guards were a challenge, but it was always smarter to not underestimate your opponent, so Sanji continued climbing. After an eternity of running up the stairs, Sanji finally got out, but because it was a rule of the universe that strawhats had the worst luck, he now found himself face to face with a maze. At first Sanji found this rather odd, as there wouldn't normally be a maze on the twelfth floor of a castle, but he had seen weirder, so he entered it all the same.

Sanji had once heard that of you ever found yourself in a maze, you should always make a right and eventually you would find yourself at the exit. Sanji didn't know if he could believe this or not, but since he had nothing else to go on, he just decided to always go right. Sanji also noticed that the noise of the guards had disappeared as soon as he had entered the maze, which was probably a bad sign, but what could he do? He had already entered the maze so it didn't really matter.

After having walked for about fifteen minutes, Sanji was faced with his first obstacle. A cat. This wasn't a just normal cat though, sure it had black fur, green eyes, a tail and four paws, but it was also he size of a house. The cat almost didn't fit in the little space it had to sit in and it certainly wouldn't be able to stand up and walk. Sanji first wondered if he should turn back, but then the cat started talking.

"The first two letters of the password refer to a man. The first three letters refer to a woman. The first four letters refer to a great man. The whole password refer to a great woman. Say the password and you can continue."

"What?" Sanji shouted confused and the cat repeated the riddle, which didn't really help Sanji much. He was beginning to feel more and more like the prince of a fairy tale... except that he was running away from the beautiful Queen and her guards to be with the criminal pirates. But other than that tiny detail, there was a castle with a beautiful woman and a bunch of trials he had to go through to get what he wanted.

Sanji thought about the riddle for quite some time, but eventually he got the answer right and the cat allowed him to pass by shrinking into a normal sized cat which _definitely_ wasn't weird. He then continued on for some time, still only making rights wherever he could and eventually he made it to the next obstacle, or trial as it was.

This time there was a pitfall, a very low ceiling, a rope, a bow and a single arrow. The motive was simple, shoot the rope to the other side and climb over the pitfall. Sanji couldn't 'cheat' and jump over because of the low ceiling and the bottom of the pitfall was filled with spikes, so Sanji had no choice but to shoot the arrow. He would have much rather preferred throwing or even kicking the arrow, as he wasn't much of a marksman, but there was no room for a big swing, so he had to use the bow and arrow. Sanji got down on his back and aimed as well as he could to the other side of the room. There was a very specific area that he had to hit if the arrow was to actually stay in the wall and Sanji was suddenly thankful for all the hours of obligatory archery he had done as a kid. He hadn't really held a bow in many years, but he shot and the arrow was stuck to the wall. Sanji attached the robe to his side and climbed over the pitfall.

Finally Sanji arrived at a door and in front of the door was a table with a balanced scale, eight pills and a note. Sanji expected this to be the last trial, if it were to follow the fairy tale theme and braced himself as he read the note: _Behind this door lays a monster. The only way to subdue it is with a sleeping pill. In front of you there are eight pills. One makes you fall into a heavy sleep, the other seven will give you inhuman power. You have two chances._ This was puzzling. Sanji had to somehow figure out which of these pills was the sleeping drug and if he chose the wrong pill, he would basically be a dead man. Sanji read the note many times before he finally understood how to solve this riddle. He devided the pills in three groups and put two groups of three pills on either side of the scale. When the right one proved to be slightly heavier, he threw away the pills unweighed and the pills on the left. He then choose two of the three pills had left and compared their weigths. Right after it had been determined that the pills were equally heavy the weight broke, but Sanji took the pill that hadn't been weighed and walked through the door.

In the room he was met with the strangest looking creature he had ever seen. The creature was literally just a super sized version of an animal which seemed to be the combination between a cat, an armadillo and a deer. Sanji wasn't even surprised when it started spitting fire, he just dodged and threw the pill into its mouth. It immediately fell asleep. Behind the weird creature was another staircase, which this time lead downwards and feeling like the end of the quest was nearing he went down.

Sanji arrived at Nami's heaven. A great treasure room. There was gold, gemstones and precious metal everywhere. Even the pillars and walls were coated with gold and Sanji was sure Nami would be happen if the result of his kidnapping was them getting rich. Sanji was a pirate after all so he couldn't let an opportunity like this pass him by. He took off his jacket and used it as a bag to carry all the most valuable things in. Sanji had learned that gemstones, and diamonds in particular, were worth more than gold, so he gathered most of those. He also took any jewellery which he thought the girls might like, and in his adventure through the treasure he let his guard down. Sanji should have known that the place would have more than one guardian, especially more than one guardian who could be taken down if one just followed the instructions. So Sanji soon found himself with an arrow going through his leg, and for a person who used kicks as their attack, this wasn't a good thing. Sanji hid behind a pillar to avoid any more arrows and tried to find his attacker, but to no luck. From the structure of the room he could guess that the archer was hidden somewhere through the gate opposite from where Sanji had entered.

Sanji wasn't sure how to take him out as he couldn't charge at him without getting hit again, so he decided to try to throw (kick) things at the guard in the hopes of taking him out. He kicked various treasures in his attackers direction, and just when he thought he landed a hit another arrow came flying towards him and he barely dodged it. Sanji was in some deep shit and he was about to take a leap of faith towards the guardian when something exploded and he came flying towards Sanji. Unfortunately the explosion hadn't knocked him out, it had just brought him closer to Sanji, but before either of them could do anything, the guard was hit by lightning and Sanji only knew one person who could do that.

"Nami-swan~" Sanji exclaimed and ran to her, but she punched him in the face when he got too close and started scolding him for getting kidnapped. Nami hadn't been alone and Sanji figured that the explosion had been Usopp's doing as he popped out from behind Nami and tried to calm her down. Chopper also appeared soon after and gave Sanji some first aid treatment to his wounded leg and Sanji couldn't help but find the situation odd and conclusive as him being saved by the heroine, the archer and the doctor seemed to finish his little fairy tale perfectly.

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 **Mewsugarpudd's request:** **"a chapter in which someone kidnaps Sanji specifically for his cooking". The story ended up being focussed on something entirely different though, but yeah... There is so much kidnapping going on at the moment, so I tried to do something different? I really didn't, I just wrote whatever came to me, and now you are left with this weird thing...**

 **Anyways, did you guys get the answer to the first riddle? If you didn't you can ask or... google it. I did not come up with these riddles myself, sorry for spoiling that, but yeah...**

 **Either way, if you nejoyed reading please faverite and follow for more, and if you feel like it, you can leave a review with your thoughts.**


	24. Ocean Blue

**Special shout-out to Neko-Tiara! You are an amazing person and don't let anyone tell you otherwise 3**

 **Enjoy reading :)**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Ocean Blue

Sanji could never be a devil fruit user. Not having the ability to swim and be in the ocean without feeling weak and powerless was something Sanji could never want. There was freedom in the ocean. On land there was the ground upon which you stood and you could only move in as many directions as the surface took you, but the ocean was different. You could move however you liked and in any direction imaginable. There were no restrictions to which way you should face and if you would rather have you feet closer to the surface than your head then so be it. From the ground above the ocean was raging and wild, but underneath it was calm and peaceful. There was nothing like the ocean. It was blue and beautiful as far as the eye could see and even further than that. Sanji was thankful that he was a pirate. There was no way he could live on land for a long time. If Sanji had his way he would come back as a fishman in his next life. The only restriction he had was that staying underwater for too long would eventually kill him. A fishman had no restrictions in water, and _oh_ how Sanji envied that.

The ocean was unpredictable, and even more so on the Grand Line. The number of times Nami had yelled that a cyclone or a tsunami was approaching was quite scary and Sanji knew how lucky they were to have her. Sanji loved the ocean, but the things you love often tend to be the death of you. Sanji had learned that the hard way when a storm had left him stranded on a rocky island for eighty days. And today was another one of those days where the ocean just wanted to claim a few lives.

The storm had been sudden and though Nami had been able to get them out of the storm's centre, they were still far from safe. Everyone was soaked to the bone, but no one was slacking. Some people were either moving loose things inside or securing them to deck, while others were furling the sails making the Sunny ready for a Coup de Burst, which would hopefully save them. It just so happened that they never got to use it. From the top of the mast Sanji heard Nami's terrified scream and he immediately looked at whatever had her so frightened. He dropped his cigarette when he saw what was headed for them. Sanji had only seen one wave bigger than the one coming towards them and that was the Aqua Laguna, which should say quite a lot about this wave. Every member of the crew were instantly aware that there was no escaping this and moved as fast as they could to ensure everyone's safety. Sanji jumped down from the mast, ignoring the unfurling sail, and grabbed onto Nami and Brook. He was about to turn around to see if the other Devil Fruit users had safely gotten to a crew mate who weren't completely useless in water, but before he made it, the wave crashed down on the ship.

Sanji took a deep breath before he was completely engulfed in water and thought of nothing but holding onto Nami and Brook. While Brook's grip was loosening, Nami's was getting tighter and that allowed Sanji to focus more on keeping the Devil Fruit user close by. The three of them let the waves move them around and gasped for air every time they found themselves at the surface. The ordeal was tough, tiring and dragged on for much longer than Sanji liked. Each minute, each second they were at the ocean's mercy, they drifted further and further away from the ship, and that was even more dangerous than being caught in an intense storm.

xxx

Sanji could finally relax and collapsed in the low waters. The waves had sent them to a small reef which was barely covered by water. They had been caught in the storm for almost an hour and while Sanji wasn't actually the one looking for the others, Nami assured him that there was no one to be seen, not even the Sunny. Sanji heard Brook stirring beside him and was glad the skeleton had survived the chaotic turn of events, it had been hard trying to figure out how much Brook suffered when he didn't actually have a face. Sanji forced himself to sit up instead of just lying in the water and thought of how to best deal with the situation, but Nami came with an answer before him.

"If we just wait here, they'll come to us."

"Are you sure, Nami-san?" Brook asked and stood up beside her leaving Sanji sitting alone in the water.

"If no one is on the Sunny it will naturally drift here because of the winds, and if either Usopp, Franky or Robin are on the ship, they'll know that the waves took us in this direction. Do any of you how the others spilt?"

Sanji shook his head, but apparently Brook had noticed before they had been swept away.

"Usopp-san was with Chopper-san and I saw Franky-san run to Robin-san, which leaves..."

"Luffy and Zoro..." Nami face palmed, "The two idiots with the worst senses of direction possible."

Sanji chuckled quietly. Of course the two of them were together. Zoro's base instincts were to always protect Luffy, even if their captain rarely needed saving. In fact, the ocean was probably the only thing which Luffy actually had to be saved from because it made him absolutely useless.

"Relax, Nami-san," Sanji smiled, "They may be stupid, but they have the luck of idiots to go with it, so they'll come through."

Nami sighed: "I suppose..."

The three of them waited for a few hours. They chatted about nothing in particular to make time pass, and just hoped that someone would find them before the sun went down. About an hour before sunset, they spotted the Sunny. At first Sanji suggested that they swim to it, while carrying Brook of course, but a light from the Sunny let them know that people were coming for them, so they waited until the Sunny got as close to the reef as it could and Usopp came sailing in the Mini-Merry to pick them up.

The entire crew, except for Luffy and Zoro, had now made it the ship. Franky's hair suggested that he'd been in water until very recently, while both Usopp and Chopper were almost completely dry. Chopper told them that Robin was in the shower and Nami left to join her, while Sanji and Brook just quickly changed out of their damp clothes. Sanji could feel a cold coming, but he ignored it for now. They still had two people to find.

Impatience and fear slowly arose when the sun set and the light of the moon was blocked by a thick layer of dark clouds, which threatened with heavy rain. What really made the crew panic was when a marine ship slowly made its way towards them. Thankfully it wasn't a battleship, but they did not have time to deal with marines now, no matter how many or few of them there were. Unfortunately there was no time to escape, as the ship closed the distance between them and the strawhats got ready to raise all hell, when a familiar voice coming from the ship called for them.

"Oi~ Guys~ Are you there?!" Luffy's voice was loud and clear, and they all relaxed. It turned out that Zoro and Luffy had bumped into the ship shortly after being thrown of the Sunny, and with nowhere to go, they had seized the ship. According to Nami's wishes they took all the treasure, and according to Sanji's wishes they didn't take any of the food. He lived by Zeff's teachings after all. Even though it had been night for a couple of hours, they decided that it was safer to sail away from the marine ship, and took their chances in blind navigation.

No one got any sleep that night, but even the darkest of nights on the most terrifying of seas, the strawhats had fun. They were all gathered on deck with blankets, lights and drinks, sharing stories from whenever they had been separated on an adventure, stories from their past and stories they had heard from others. When they ran out of stories, they gathered up all their treasure and with more than enough money left after having bought the necessities on the next island, people were enthusiastically discussing what to buy. Everyone wanted different things, but with all that they had it would be more than easy to fulfil every single wish. The only thing they decided not to get was the bronze statue Luffy wanted, and had always wanted for that matter, because where would they even store that?

As the conversations went on the night slowly brightened, the stars disappeared one after one, and Sanji looked at the sun rising over the now still waters. The sea, which had earlier been black, scary and dangerous, was now blue, beautiful and luring. The events from yesterday were almost forgotten, but no matter what happened, Sanji would always love the ocean.

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	25. A Place for the Weak

**Forgive the late update it the only thing I have to say this time... Enjoy reading!**

 **Story set: During Time Skip**

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A place for the weak

The small period of time where the people of Momoiro Island were waking up and getting ready for a day of torturing him was the only free space Sanji had. He was in Ivankov's room getting what could only be described as lecture on armourment Haki, something he was still struggling with even after a year of training. He had gotten observation Haki down quite fast and Ivankov had been surprised when he had mastered it within two months of his training, but armourment was tricky because it required almost the opposite skills than the ones he used to create fire. To put it in simple terms, it was something like blowing air into a balloon. When creating fire, it was about putting as much air into the balloon as fast as possible so that it would explode, but with armourment Haki it would be like putting as much air into the balloon as you could without it popping. The contrast was hard to get used to, especially when Ivankov wanted him to combine the two techniques. So Sanji was getting a lecture and a scolding, while Ivankov was putting on some make-up.

"Vyou have to imagine it, Sanji-kyun, imagine it! In your head!" Ivankov said for the millionth time and Sanji just nodded, which ended up earning him a shoe to the head, "Don't be rude!"

"Right! I'm sorry!" Sanji apologized harshly, and Ivankov just sighed.

"Well, today vyou will be doing something new."

"Something else?" Sanji tilted his head in confusion, he still hadn't masted Haki so it would be weird to start focusing on something else all of a sudden.

"Well, vyou are part of a crew where half are ability users," Ivankov stated, and Sanji wasn't sure where this was going, "as a person who can swim, would it not be beneficial of vyou to improve vyour underwater skills?"

"Well, I'm already a pretty good swimmer," Sanji said in all honesty, he was the best underwater fighter the crew had, and he really wanted to get that haki down.

"Not good enough!" Ivankov kicked him into the wall before Sanji could react, "Don't underestimate the New World, candy boy!"

"Alright, alright," Sanji said as he got up on his feet again, damn, he should have known better than to let his guard down, "But why now?"

"We'll be going out to sea today," was the answer and Sanji got even more confused.

"Out to sea? Do we have a destination, or?"

"I'll tell you if you beat me in combat," Ivankov closed the lid on the mascara, and they got ready for the first fight of the day, "Now come at me boy!"... Needlessly to say, Sanji got his ass kicked.

Not long after they were aboard a great ship, a ship much bigger than any Sanji had ever been on, yet he wouldn't actually be spending much time on the ship itself. He had been tasked with the much endearing job of fighting sea kings at their turf, and Sanji had to admit that it was truly a good way to improve his underwater capabilities. He learned how to best preserve his air and how to increase lung capacity. His movements became more fluent and much, much faster, as anything else would get him eaten. After the first few days of almost getting eaten every five minutes, Sanji was enjoying all the time he spent fighting below the surface.

By the eight day they arrived at their destination. There was a call from the crow's nest and Sanji ran to the front to see where they had been heading all this time and in the far distance he saw only white. At first he thought his eyes might be deceiving him, but as they got closer he still only saw white and when he sat foot in the island there was still only white. It wasn't snow, no, this wasn't a winter island, if Sanji had to pick, he'd say it was a spring island. The beach had white sand, the cliffs, rocks and mountains were white and the sky above them was white. The place looked deserted and bare, but Ivankov lead them to a system of tunnels and when they reached the other side, there was a great castle carved into the mountain before them.

"This is the island where the headquarters of the Revolutionary Army is located, Baltigo," Ivankov told Sanji and he could do nothing but stare at the sight in front of him. What the world wouldn't give to find this place. How many years and men had been wasted in the search of this place, and now Sanji had been let into the base without even knowing so.

"Why are we here?" Sanji asked as they moved inside the great structure.

"Does vyour time apart from vyour captain change vyour loyalties?"

"Of course not."

"Neither does mine."

They walked for a while through the castle, which could honestly only be described as a maze. Sanji tried to remember where they turned and what each corridor looked like, but he soon lost track of everything and gave up. Then they entered a great hall. So far they hadn't met anyone, but this was a mess hall and there were people everywhere, eating their lunch, chatting and laughing. As they entered Ivankov became the centre of attention and all the people of Kamabaka Kingdom were met with enthusiastic greetings and drinks... lots of drinks.

Sanji stood by a window in the far end of the hall and observed. The revolutionaries were rumoured to be a great army of thousands of blood thirsty and harsh warriors, but what Sanji saw were a people. A people who were happy to reunite with their old friends or just happy to meet new people who shared their ideals. There were all sorts of people gathered in the mess hall too. Men, women and okamas from all around. There were humans, fishmen, sky people, and many other races, who Sanji either didn't know existed or had only heard rumours about, and all were treated equally. Sanji smiled as the place reminded him of his crew, and Sanji stopped smiling as he realized just how much he missed his friends.

And that was when someone jumped into his arms with a quiet whisper of his name and hugged him tight. At first Sanji only saw long black hair, but when he realized he hugged her back tightly and didn't let her go for a long time. Sanji felt for her. All her life she had been alone, unable to trust anyone and as soon as she had found a place she should call home it had been taken from her. They had all lost something that day, but Robin had lost the first thing she had had and loved for a long time.

"So..." Sanji said when they had finally let go of each other, "The Revolutionaries, huh? Are they treating you well?"

"They are." Robin smiled.

"Have you met him? Luffy's father?" Sanji asked, genuinely interested in the mysterious man who lead the revolution.

"I have. He's quite something."

"Well, vi think that's enough small talk," Ivankov suddenly interrupted, "Don't forget that these two years are meant to make vyou stronger. Come now."

Ivankov lead Sanji and Robin out of the castle. A few people followed them, but Sanji paid no attention to them. Instead he and Robin talked about Luffy and what they knew or presumed. It was nice to be with a fellow crew mate again, it would be hard to say goodbye again. They arrived at a wide space with a few rocky structures placed here and there, and Ivankov turned to face them.

"Since vyour captain wants vyou two to become stronger, would it not be beneficial for vyou to train together... and by together vi mean against each other."

"Why?" Sanji protested, "I can't fight Robin-chan!"

"If vyou can't fight her, vyou can't win," Ivankov simply said, "In the New World, you die if you don't win."

"Wait!" Sanji yelled, but Robin attacked him without warning and he could only dodge.

"If vyou want to be of any use to vyour captain, vyou cannot hesitate against any opponent. Vyou are weak against women, boy! The New World has no place for weakness!"

Sanji knew that. He knew that his resolve to not fight women could cost him his life or worse, the life of someone else, but... he couldn't do it. Sanji did not think women weaker than men, he did not think women more fragile than men and he did not think of women as inferior to men. Sanji knew better than to underestimate women, and his so called chivalry had much different roots. Dark roots, which he would rather forget, but still, they haunted him and dictated his actions.

So Sanji didn't fight Robin, he only evaded her attacks as best as he could, for as long as he could. When the 'match' had gone on for long enough and it became clear that Sanji wouldn't fight back even if Robin was actually trying to kill him, Ivankov stopped it.

They stayed at Baltigo for two weeks. Sanji and Robin spent most of their together, and Sanji could feel his heart hurting when he boarded the ship that would take him back to Momoiro Island. As the island became nothing but a white blur in the horizon, Ivankov came to his side.

"As stupid as vyour chivalry is, there is honour in it."

"You're wrong," Sanji said and took his eyes of the island, "There is no honour in weakness."

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 **If you enjoyed reading please favorite and follow for more. You can also leave a review with your thoughts, it would be very much appreciated!**


	26. Bravery Shines Bright

**This chapter is the longest I've written yet. Unless you count Don't Cry Over Spilt Milk as one chapter, but yeah, this one is long, so I hope you enjoy it, I did spend a lot of time on it :)**

 **Also, let me just address all the people who have requested chapters which I have yet to write. I will write all requests (unless I PM you to say that I won't), but sometimes I need time to think of the perfect way to convey that request, but I won't end this story until I have written all requests.**

 **Also, to Emmahoshi who requested a chapter I have yet to write. Your request will be included in a completely different story, which should go up by the end of the month.**

 **Story set: After Dressrosa**

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Bravery shines brighter in the light of fear

Fear. What a horrible word, yet it is one which everyone knows of. Not just in definition, but in practice. Everyone has fears. Some are faster to show their fears and are more open about them, while others hide theirs well, but fear is present in everyone nonetheless. Some fears are irrational, superficial and are often rooted in rumours or stories. They are fears which can often be dealt with quickly and it is a fear which people are fast to admit to. Not because they think it is rational and they feel like other people should share their fear, but because it _is_ an irrational fear, and they acknowledge that, so people around them don't get the idea that they should be scared too. A fear such as that would be Nami's fear of bugs. There was no real reason for her to fear them, but they were gross and _you could never know what they were thinking._ Sanji couldn't really say that he was too fond of bugs himself, but maybe there was another reason for that lurking in the back of his mind. Thankfully most of the other crew members did not share their fear in the slightest. Chopper was a good friend of all animals (unless they were trying to kill him), and people like Robin and Usopp, who had both lived lives of solitude, found the company of animals pleasing. Of course, if asked they'd probably prefer cuddling a dog rather than a centipede, but they had no fear for them and Usopp had taken the task of removing all unwanted spiders from the kitchen. Not because Sanji couldn't do it himself, no, no, he just had better things to do than carry spiders outside.

Other fears were sometimes rooted in some rationality, but only manifested itself because of other circumstances. It was like having a fear of fire. Obviously fire can burn and kill, but if handled correctly it could also be a key element in surviving. Thankfully no one on the Sunny were scared of fire. Sanji had for some time after the events of Marineford been afraid that Luffy's attitude towards fire would have turned for the worse, but Luffy was strong and not really fond of all that metaphorical stuff. It had only helped when Sabo, Luffy's long lost and thought to be dead brother, showed up and acquired their late brother's powers. However, a fear like this which did exist on the crew was the fear of lightning which Chopper held. It was a combination of different things that contributed to this fear. Coming from a Winter Island, thunderstorms were possibly the rarest of weather phenomenons, though they were not completely unheard of. This meant that before Chopper had joined the crew and left Sakura Kingdom, he had never experienced thunder, and it didn't really help that his first encounter with it was on a sky island, where a self-proclaimed God tried to kill all of them with his lightning abilities. So Chopper was scared of thunder and whenever Nami warned that a thunderstorm was approaching, Chopper would hide inside the kitchen where Sanji would serve him hot chocolate with marshmallows and Usopp would join to tell stories of courageous heroes.

And then there are those fears which are unique to a single person, because they are not rooted in anything other than personal experience. Sometimes these fears are exaggerated versions of an irrational fear, because there is great difference between being scared of spiders because you find them gross and being scared of them because you were once bitten and only just survived a deadly poison. Sanji had once thought that strength could be measured in whether one would cower in fear because of a bad experience or whether they would stand strong and not let it face them, but through the years his opinion had changed drastically, because in this world there was no one as strong as Luffy, and Luffy did not live by this concept. At least not entirely. During their time together, Luffy had almost been killed by a large number of things. He had almost drowned on many occasions, yet he held no fear for the ocean. Sanji sometimes wished that he did, because it was getting annoying to pull him out of the water after he had jumped in himself. Luffy had almost been stabbed to death, and Zoro would still yell at him to stop playing with his swords. Luffy had almost succumbed to poison, but whenever he found himself being infected he'd just brush it off, smile reassuringly and say that he had had worse. And Luffy had almost been burned to death and had a huge gash on his chest to show it, yet he still found comfort in the warm flames. And while all this applied to Sanji's previous opinion, there were also things that didn't, because Luffy feared nothing more than losing his crew, yet it also made him stronger.

There had been many incidents in which someone from the notorious straw hat crew had almost died or been taken away from them, and while most of these incidents involved the captain himself, it was the others which struck fear in their hearts. The best representation of this would be the whole Enies Lobby incident. The crew had been torn apart. People had left for various reasons, and the members who were left all had different opinions on their situation. Sanji remembered how he'd forced himself to stay quiet as soon as Usopp had said that he would leave and Luffy hadn't done a better job of convincing him not to, because Sanji had been so against the outcome that he could have destroyed the Merry then and there, just to change the situation completely. It had been horrible, because no one had wanted Usopp to leave, yet both Luffy and Zoro had accepted it, while Nami, Chopper and Sanji had continued to watch out for Usopp after his match with Luffy. The situation had only worsened when Robin hadn't been seen after they had docked, and they learned that she had been taken away by the powers of the World Government. There had been turmoil and chaos, yet what had broken them, ended up becoming their strength. Usopp's leave had been triggered by the destroyed Merry, but had been rooted in his fears of not being good enough for the crew, and most importantly, not good enough for Luffy, and in Enies Lobby he had proved himself wrong. He had been brave, strong and he had saved their lives. Robin had left because she feared that the happiness she had finally found would backfire on the ones she loved, but by gaining the same enemies, she let go of her fear and fought for her life, which she had previously been ready to throw away without a second thought. Franky, who had not been on their good side at the start of this horrific journey, had become a dependable ally and later a crew mate, who would provide them with a new ship and new security, all the while he had overcome whatever demons resided in his head.

Still, fear had been born of the incident. Whenever they found themselves in a fight with marines who ushered the least of threats, Luffy would glance to Robin and go out of his way to ensure her safety, even when there was no need. Whenever an argument on the Sunny got out of hand, Luffy would show an unusual amount of diplomacy and resolve whatever the problem was. He often covered his reasons to do so up with excuses like _I'm the Captain_ and _You're ruining the mood,_ and while they weren't lies, Sanji, and many others, were painfully aware of why he was acting like he was. Of course, it wasn't often that these things happened often, but it didn't take a genius to figure Luffy out and it was only out of respect that no one ever touched upon the subject. There was no need to after all, it wasn't like Luffy was destroying himself from the inside, no, Zoro would never allow that. Luffy was all smiles and laughter when there were no incidents, and small arguments, like those Sanji and Zoro had every single day, were nothing to even blink twice about.

This was ultimately why Sanji had changed his opinion about fear, because while Luffy had close to no fears, the ones he had were rooted in horrible experiences, and he used those experiences and the fears he had gained from them to ensure that he would always be strong enough to not breathe life into those fears. Their two years apart had been hard, because they had done exactly that, but they still got stronger. They got stronger because they were afraid... It was just a pity that not all fears could be dealt with by being strong.

Sanji was alone in the kitchen and he was panicking. They crew was unaware of their current situation, because, unlike Luffy, Sanji was a good liar, but just because they didn't know didn't exactly change their situation. They had been at sea for almost two weeks at this point, and while they sometimes encountered islands within a few days, most times it would take much longer. Usually it wouldn't be a problem, since they would buy food to last them at least a week, and in addition to that the ocean held many opportunities for food, and they even had a big aquarium where they could store fresh fish for as long as they wanted. They had fresh fruit from Nami's tangerines, and even if she wasn't fond of using them all the time, she did acknowledge that it would be a waste to not eat them, and they were a good source for vitamins not found at sea. They also had Chopper and Sanji's herb garden, which in cases of emergency had herbs, which made people full faster. All in all, it was unlikely that they find themselves facing starvation, but that was now the case. The pantry was almost empty. The only things left were a sack of potatoes, another bag of different vegetables and some cheese. The fridge had eggs, dairy products, some leftovers from last night and booze. There were a few small fish left in the aquarium, and herbs couldn't really replace a meal, so their stock situation was downright shitty. It didn't help that they for a solid five days hadn't been able to catch a single fish, and they had no clue why. So now Sanji was faced with having to make breakfast with almost nothing to actually cook. While no one knew that they almost running out of food, because Sanji knew that people would start starving themselves if they ever found out, they did know that their food situation wasn't the best. When they had had no luck obtaining food after two days, Sanji had told them that he would start rationing food, just in case. Of course he had also told them that they still had plenty of food in the pantry, but panic was the last thing they needed at the moment... except that Sanji was panicking right now.

Breakfast was the most important meal. It was the foundation of the energy you had throughout the day and it helped the mind wake up and be alert. As a pirate crew, they had to alert at all times, because they were safe from approximately no one, which was another reason Sanji didn't tell them that they were as low on food as they were. If they were attacked, it was very important that Luffy, at the very least, could fight to his fullest, and more than anyone, Luffy was in need of food. And Sanji knew that the first person who would start eating less, if not out right stop eating, would be Luffy, because his crew always came first. They hadn't encountered a single ship since they left the last island, which Sanji took as a bad sign. It meant that either they would encounter someone very soon or that they had entered some place of the Grand Line, which people normally kept away from. Both options were bad considering their current food shortage.

Sanji slapped himself hard and left his dark thoughts. He still had food to serve his crew, so he just had to make do with what he had and he got to work. As Sanji made breakfast, he heard the voices of Usopp and Nami just outside. They were both early risers, so it wasn't rare that they would be up and talking before coming to the kitchen for breakfast, but when Franky joined their conversation and they all started to sound alarmed, Sanji feared the worst. It wasn't long after that Franky entered the kitchen and broke the news.

Just this morning Usopp had figured out why they had been unable to catch any fish. It was the water. There was something in the water, something unnatural, which made the fish reluctant to live in the area, which the strawhats now found themselves in, and whatever was in the water was now so intense that they could no longer filter it. This meant that on top of having little to no food, they were now also suffering from a water shortage. Great. Absolutely fucking great! Sanji could have cried. Right then and there he could have broken down and just cried. At least when he had been stranded on a rock, there had been water, but here no, nothing. Of course Sanji knew better than to completely break down and together the four of them discussed their current water situation, while Sanji continued to prepare breakfast and pretend that water was the only issue they had to deal with. They started by swearing off showers until their situation turned, they'd rather smell than die after all. They also devised a plan to make sure that Zoro stopped training, just for a while, as his water intake was the highest out of all of them. The plan involved Nami threatening him with money, and if that didn't work, as a second option they would get Usopp to make Luffy forbid Zoro from training. With these water consuming things removed the only three things they needed water for was drinking, so that they wouldn't dehydrate. Sanji also needed water to cook with and they needed water for their garden. The last part might not seem important, but their garden held more than just pretty flowers. They had Usopp's pop green, which were a rarity and Usopp lost his weapon if his part of the garden died. The herb garden was important, not only for food, but also for medicine, so they couldn't let that die either. The tangerine trees had food growing on them, and was their only source for citrus, so they needed water too. The only thing they could allow to sacrifice was Robin's flowerbed.

The day went by fast. The crew came in for breakfast and Nami informed them of their water situation. People seemed to understand fast enough, and Zoro was easily dealt with. Sanji was quite surprised at how little he complained, but Zoro understood that he couldn't jeopardise the crew's lives just because he was impatient to get stronger. Sanji made sure to make the meals as different as possibly so that no one would know that they were running low on food as well as water, but he also made sure to not eat much himself. When Luffy asked if wasn't joining them at the table to eat, Sanji lied and said that he had already eaten or that he would eat afterwards, when in reality the only intake he'd had was the few bites he took to make sure that everything had enough salt and was cooked to perfection. When he had cleaned the kitchen after dinner, he allowed himself a cup of tea and sat down to best figure out how to get through the next day. He would have to cut down on the amount of food he would serve again, and some would get less than others. Sanji decided that Luffy and Zoro would get the most food, as most enemies could be dealt with by the two of them. He reduced his own food intake to almost nothing, and he also reduced Brook's significantly. Chopper and Nami also got less, as they were the smallest crew members and needed less food. Robin, Franky and Usopp's portions would be reduced only slightly, as they were good supporting fighters and needed a good amount of food too. It was hard to figure out how to best preserve the food. Sanji had enough food to give everyone a proper meal twice, meaning that he could probably stretch their food to last about one or two days, but not longer, and especially not if they got attacked.

Sanji burrowed his head in his arms and gripped his elbows tight. He hated not being able to feed his crew, he hated the feeling of prolonged hunger (smoking only could do so much and he had ended up not even lighting a cigarette the last few days, call it personal punishment) and he hated that he felt like a failure. He knew that, essentially, it wasn't his fault. He wasn't actually in charge of how much food they had, but that did not stop Sanji from blaming himself.

"What's wrong?" Usopp's voice asked and Sanji almost jumped from shock. He hadn't heard Usopp enter and he could only imagine what Usopp was thinking seeing Sanji breaking down over a cup of tea.

"Nothing, just tired," Sanji lied, hoping that he could pass his position of as being sleepy, but the king of liars didn't believe him for a second.

"I know you're lying Sanji, and I know you've been lying to us for awhile now." Sanji looked up at Usopp and found that he wasn't actually looking at him, he was looking at the fridge, "We are low on food, aren't we?"

"Yes," Sanji whispered, defeated.

"Even more than you said a few days ago."

"Yes."

They sat in silence for awhile. Sanji was kind of glad that of all the people who could have seen through him, it had been Usopp. He wasn't sure when it had happened, but throughout their journey on the Grand Line, Usopp had become the one Sanji came to when he needed to talk. Usopp was a good listener and he gave extremely good advise, and Sanji found his company pleasant and effortless. It wasn't that the other straw hats wouldn't listen to any of his problems, he was sure that they would help him out, even if just wanted to vent about Zoro, but during the time Sanji and Usopp had spent together, they had grown as close as brothers. In personality they were very different people, but they shared each other's values and that was more important than being alike.

"How much do we have left?" Usopp finally asked and Sanji bit his lip, because saying it out loud, would be like admitting that they were in a crisis they couldn't get out of.

"I would say that the contents of the aquarium is about ninety percent of what he have."

Usopp stared wide-eyed at him, "But... That's not even enough for a day."

Sanji looked down again, "I know..."

There was a short pause until Usopp spoke again: "You're blaming yourself."

"Of course, I-"

"Don't," Usopp interrupted, "Don't blame yourself, because it's not your fault... It's no one's fault."

"I know, but-" Sanji protested not really knowing why.

"It's _not_ your fault," Usopp repeated, and Sanji knew that if Usopp didn't want to keep their conversation private, he would have yelled at him. Usopp did that a lot Sanji recalled. Whenever Sanji was being extra difficult and he wouldn't see sense, Usopp would yell at him until he did. It was quite effective actually.

Usopp got up and moved to leave the kitchen, leaving Sanji to prepare for tomorrow. There wasn't much Usopp could do when it came down to it.

"I know why you didn't say anything, so I won't either. Just..." Usopp looked at him determined, "Just don't starve yourself. You're just as important as the rest of us."

With that he left and Sanji could only stare at the door he had walked out of. Usopp hadn't panicked when he had learned of their situation, not really, and the sniper's courage was apparently contagious, because suddenly Sanji felt more at ease.

It didn't change their situation though, and the chance of running completely out of food was not a far of nightmare, but just as Sanji worked on how to preserve whatever food they had the best, Usopp had been working on how to get out of their predicament.

"What if we move at night?" Usopp suggested during breakfast, which everyone had noticed was significantly smaller than yesterday's meal, "The faster we get out of this part of the ocean, the better, right?"

"It's too dangerous," Nami said, there was a reason they stopped at night after all, "We have less visibility at night so if we run into any enemies it would be harder to avoid them, and we are trying to avoid conflict. There is also the problem of the weather. This is the Grand Line and the more we move, the more the weather changes, and I cannot be awake all the time."

"Yes, I know that, but what if we move slowly? If we move a little below half speed even I have the skill to predict the weather in time, and I also have the best vision out of anyone here. That combined with my observation haki should be enough to avoid any unwanted enemies at night."

"Your observation haki?" Nami asked puzzled and Sanji remembered that the only ones who knew about Usopp's haki were himself and Luffy who had been teaching him how to control it, "You have haki?"

"Yeah, but that's not really important now," Usopp said and Sanji noted how people were confused that Usopp wasn't bragging in the slightest. It was the perfect moment to do so. Usopp had acquired a technique which up until this point had been one only the monster trio possessed, so for Usopp to not boost his own ego spoke levels of their dire situation, "What's important is that as long as I am on watch, we can safely move at night."

Nami thought about it for awhile, but eventually agreed with him and Luffy gave Usopp permission to take all the night watches until they were out of the dry sea, as they had started to call it. Outside the brilliant idea that it was, Sanji knew that there was more to it than Usopp had explained. For him to have every single watch duty meant that he would have to change his sleep schedule, which would make it unbelievably easy for him to miss meals without anyone suspecting anything whatsoever. Sanji was a little bit mad at Usopp if he thought that Sanji would let him get away with not eating, but then again, he was kind of doing the same thing, so his anger wasn't really justified.

After breakfast people left the kitchen and Sanji began cleaning, but he noticed that Brook had yet to leave the room, and after staring at him for a few seconds, it became apparent that he wasn't about to leave.

"You won't have to give me food until we restock," Brook suddenly said and Sanji almost dropped a plate.

"You can't just stop eating," Sanji almost yelled at him, and Brook just shook his head.

"I don't need food to stay alive. I need food to gain energy, but not to live, so me not eating won't resolve in anything permanent. Besides... both you and Usopp seem determined to not eat, so I urge of you to eat my share. Luffy-san wouldn't approve his best friend and prized chef starving."

"He wouldn't approve of any of us starving!" Sanji protested, but lately, all his protests had been for naught.

"I won't be starving, Sanji-san. Are you forgetting that I lived for years without food?" Sanji had no response, "I won't tell anyone about our situation, but sooner or later people will start to notice."

Brook left the kitchen before Sanji could argue any further, and Sanji had to realize the truth of his last statement. Soon more people would start asking questions, and the more people knew, the more they would start blaming themselves for various things, and a depressed crew was the last thing they needed.

Lunch came and went, and Sanji was forced to realize that in a day there would be no more food left. They were down to five small fish and a few things which wouldn't even make a meal that could fill Nami up, so Sanji was desperate for a miracle. That was when Usopp's voice caught everyone's attention. Since Zoro was no longer allowed to train, he spend all his time on deck, mostly sleeping or just observing other crew members. This meant that Usopp had taken the crow's nest and he had therefore been the first to notice what they were sailing towards.

Sanji ran to deck, first worried that he had sighted an enemy ship, but by the look of people's faces and Usopp when he came down, it seemed that there was nothing to worry about. This was also the first time Sanji had been outside of the kitchen during downtime since their food and water shortage had begun, and it was safe to say that the strawhats were affected by the lack of food. Luffy and Chopper had joined Zoro for a nap, Nami was sitting in the shade of her tangerine trees and gathering the ones that were ripe, which weren't many, but food was food. Robin had joined Franky in his workplace, and they had only just arrived on deck, and Brook was sat by the mast tuning his violin. The atmosphere was peaceful, but not as lively as it would normally be, however, everyone had put a stop to their activities (could you call the activities?) when Usopp came to inform them of what he had seen.

Not too far in the distance was a giant shipwreck. Usopp had estimated that at least five ships lay destroyed in the waters, and after a little discussion about what to do, they all decided that they might as well check it out.

After an hour they arrived at the site of the shipwreck, and it was clear as day that some sort of battle had taken place here. There were the wrecks of three marine ships and at least five other ships, which they all just assumed were pirate ships... or former pirate ships. Another notable thing about this particular area was that the water wasn't blue. It almost looked like one of the marine ships was leaking out some sort of chemical which discoloured the water, and Usopp and Franky quickly determined that this was the cause of the dry ocean. They slowly made their way through the shipwreck, but not having done anything for many days, Luffy took the chance to explore a bit. One of the presumed pirate ships was mostly intact, and Luffy thought that there might be something on the ship, so he disappeared inside of it. Zoro was quick to follow his captain to the ruined ship, when Nami said that someone should keep an eye on him to make sure that he 1) didn't fall into the ocean and 2) came back to their ship before they left the area.

No one actually expected Luffy to come back with anything interesting, but they were all very happy when they were proved wrong. Luffy came directly to Nami as he had found a small bag of golden treasure and her day was instantly made. Zoro was right behind him and he carried a big wooden box and a barrel on top. To Sanji's joy the box contained food, while the barrel contained wine. There wasn't more food than what would last them a day, but it was a day nonetheless and Sanji was not about to complain.

They left the area and Sanji went back to the kitchen to cook dinner. According to Sanji's first calculations they should have run out of food by breakfast in two days, but thanks to Usopp eating less, Brook not eating at all and Luffy being Luffy and having found more food, they lasted until dinner on the third day, but by then it was also really bad. The waters were still completely devoid of any lifeforms, and their water shortage where beginning to look more like a complete lack of water. They were now at the point where they had purified the water in the aquarium, and they were on their last twenty litres. The only food source they had left was Nami's tangerine tress, which had no ripe fruit left, and even if they did, it wouldn't really be enough. So Sanji was back to being depressed and struggling to figure out how to cook the next breakfast with just about no ingredients.

When everyone had gone to bed Usopp came down from the crow's nest and joined Sanji in the kitchen. They didn't talk, they both knew what their situation was, but when everything was shitty, it was always better to be with a person, than being alone. Usopp would sometimes go out to check the log pose, the weather and their surroundings, but he would always come back when everything was fine, and more than once, Sanji wondered if they should move faster than what they had promised Nami. He decided against it though. None of them had the energy to frantically escape a storm, and this speed would allow them to steer clear of said storms, so Sanji never voiced his opinion. He did force Usopp to drink a cup of tea though, just to deal with the situation. Starvation seemed like a smaller threat when you watched someone drink, so as much as it was for Usopp's own good and health, it also helped Sanji's mental stability.

Sanji had completely given up on trying to magically cook a meal and when the sun rose over the horizon, both him and Usopp sat by the railing watching as night illuminated and turned to day. It was peaceful as the sun rose, the ocean was still and the wind only blew enough to move them forward, so when Usopp suddenly dove into water with no warning, Sanji jumped out of surprise. Usopp was underwater for almost a minute and Sanji was ready to dive in after him, but Usopp surfaced before he did so, and showed Sanji why he had jumped in. In Usopp's hand was a fish, not a big one, but if there was one fish, there would be more, and that meant they must have left the dry sea. Usopp got out of the water and both of them went to get the fishing gear. Usopp also tested the water and when he had determined that it was no longer overflowing with chemicals, he went to re-open the filtering system, which would purify the salt water.

Sanji was happy. He had managed to get through the ordeal without letting the crew miss a single meal, even though those meals had slowly decreased in size... but they had gotten food and that was the important thing. Brook was the first one to join them on deck, and he took over for Sanji, so that he could go make them a proper breakfast.

As Sanji cooked the first meal of the day he realized how well he had handled the situation. Sure, he had panicked a couple of times, and he had eaten close to nothing over the course of a week, but at no point had he completely freaked out and broken down to the point of no mending. Sanji mostly had Usopp to thank for that. There was bravery to be found in another person's company, and though the thought of starvation was still Sanji's biggest fear, he also knew how to deal with that fear. Sanji knew that if this had been his first encounter with starvation, he might not have been able to make the food last as long as it did, and having to deny Luffy food would be even worse than starving in Sanji's mind.

When breakfast came around, the crew was surprised to find themselves being served a feast, but Sanji only smiled and told them to dig in. Explanations would come later, for now they could only eat until they were full.

* * *

 **How was that? Starvation is always a good topic when talking about Sanji and I feel like I really missed out on an opportunity with Ocean Blue, so yeah. If you enjoyed it please favorite and follow for more. Also, please leave a review with your thoughts, they are much appreciated. Thank you in advance 3**


	27. Inside the Box

**Okay, originally this was supposed to be a follow-up chapter from the last one, but after a lot of thinking, I thought that I wanted to do that as completely seperate story, as I thought it would work better from a different character's perspective, so for anyone who are interested in that, there will be a follow-up story on Thursday.**

 **But without further ado, this was written for a request from Yakarin, and the full request will be included in the end notes. Enjoy!**

 **Story set: Timeless**

* * *

Inside the box

It's usually minor problems or complications which frustrates a person. It's not life threatening dangers or philosophical pondering, it's the small and seemingly meaningless things. It makes sense and seems important to the person who wants to solve said small problem, while others can only watch idly by as they try to understand why the person is getting agitated by what seems like nothing. This was the situation currently unfolding in the kitchen of the Sunny at this very moment.

Sanji could hear them talking, but he didn't care, they did not _understand_ what was going on. This was his problem and he was going to solve it no matter how long it took him and he didn't care if he had to kill a man in the process. He was _doing_ this. It was his duty as a chef. His pride was at stake! But he still couldn't figure it out. It seemed like he had tried everything. Every possibly combination, but each time something had been off. The consistency, the flavour, the colour, always something! He had written it all down as he had worked, and crossed out all the failures, but still, he couldn't get it right. What was he missing? What was the key to this? He would figure it out. One way or another, he would solve this mystery.

Of course Sanji's silent determination did not help the confused crew in the slightest.

"Are we sure he's okay?" Usopp almost whispered though he didn't sound too concerned.

"He's not ill, I've checked," Chopper shrugged.

"But he's been standing in the same position for _hours_ now. What do you think he's doing?" Nami asked, she too sounded less concerned for his well being than Sanji liked.

"Maybe he's thinking," Robin offered.

"Thinking?" Zoro snorted, "You need a brain to think."

A short pause.

"He didn't even react..." Franky sighed.

"Maybe if Nami-san were to show us her panties?" Brook mused, and got his head bashed in by said Nami-san.

"Do you think he'll still make dinner?" Luffy asked innocently, while Nami and Usopp sighed.

"Shouldn't you be less worried about food and more worried about Sanji?" Franky asked.

"But Chopper said that he wasn't ill!" Luffy protested.

"Just because he's not ill doesn't mean that nothing is wrong, Luffy," Chopper informed.

More silence...

"Do you think he'll react if we throw water on him?" Zoro suggested.

"Maybe...?" Usopp wondered, possibly doing a thinking pose.

"What about scolding hot water?" Zoro continued.

"We are trying to help him, not hurt him!" Nami yelled and smacked Zoro in the head. Maybe she would kill a man before Sanji could.

"Ice cold then," Zoro said rubbing his head.

"Stop it with the water suggestions!" Franky interrupted, "If he doesn't react, he'll just get a cold, and then he will actually be ill."

"What if we tickle him," Luffy beamed, probably being more excited by the prospect of causing mischief than actually helping anyone.

"I already tried," Chopper sighed... There was a lot of sighing going on today.

"When did you try that?" Brook asked confused.

"When I checked if he was ill. I was climbing all over him, so I tried tickling him to get a reaction... Didn't work."

"And~ We're back to square one," Nami said sounding more annoyed by the minute.

"Maybe if we try to figure out what happened to Sanji, we can figure out how to solve it," Robin suggested.

"Now that sounds like a solid plan," Franky cheered.

"Who was the last person to see Sanji moving?" Robin started and it almost sounded like she was starting an interrogation.

"I think that was me," Usopp answered, "I had just come back from the town with supplies and some snacks, and I offered Sanji one of these dumplings, which I thought was really good. Sanji seemed to agree and went to the kitchen to cook... Chopper found him not long after."

"So maybe there was something in the dumpling?" Brook wondered almost to himself.

"But that can't be," Usopp objected, "I ate that dumpling too, remember? And I'm fine."

"Maybe you have it to come," Zoro grinned. He was having too much fun.

"That makes no sense. Sanji has been like this for hours, and I ate more of it than he did."

"Then maybe it's an allergic reaction?" Zoro suggested and more sighs were heard.

"That's not how allergies work!" Chopper explained.

"We're not making any progress here," Nami interrupted.

"What about that piece of paper" Luffy said casually.

"What piece of paper?" A few people asked confused.

"The one on the table in front of him."

"Huh?"

"This one?" Robin asked having grabbed the paper with her powers.

"What is it?" Nami asked slowly.

"It looks like a list of ingredients... There must be at least a hundred items on here, but most of them have been crossed out... I wonder why..." Robin mused.

"Wait!" Usopp exclaimed suddenly, "Give me that!"

Another round of silence, followed by the sound of Usopp going trough the contents of his bag.

"I knew it!" He then shouted without any further elaboration.

"Care to enlighten us?" Nami asked.

"This is a list of the ingredients in the dumplings... Well almost all of them anyway."

"What do you mean _almost_?" Franky pushed.

"Well, all of the items that aren't crossed out are part of the recipe, and the ones crossed out aren't. But! He is missing one item."

"How do you know he's missing an item? Since when did you become a cook?" Zoro interrupted.

"Because of this," Usopp presented something to the crew, "The woman who gave me the dumplings also gave me the recipe!"

 _The recipe?_ Sanji turned around and snatched the piece of paper out of Usopp's hand and read it.

"He moved!" Luffy shouted,

"... He moved... How dull," Zoro yawned.

"He actually moved," Usopp tilted his head.

Sanji went through the ingredients on the recipe and felt really stupid. He hadn't taken into account that the base ingredients could have been home made brands, but this soy sauce on the list had it's own complicated recipe. Thankfully, Sanji was a skilled chef and this was not outside his capabilities. Sanji then went back to the kitchen and made the dumplings following the recipe Usopp had gotten and finally, _finally,_ after hours and hours of work, he had recreated it... Of course, he hadn't actually done it by himself... He'd been close, but essentially he had failed. Oh well, it had worked out in the end.

"Wait..." Nami said and Sanji turned to her, "Are you telling me that all of _this_ was because you tried to make dumplings?" She did not look happy.

"Well..." Sanji started, "Why don't you try one?" Sanji offered, hoping to escape her wrath... and her fists. It didn't seem to work.

"There is point in getting worked up about it, Nami," Robin said calmly and took the food Sanji offered her, "Why don't we just eat the dumplings and move on."

"Yes! Sanji! Food!" Luffy exclaimed excited, and Sanji passed the dumplings around to everyone, though Nami was still looking rather unhappy. Yes, it truly were the small things that caused the most frustration.

* * *

 **Yakarin's request: _"We know for a fact that sometimes Sanji gets so obsessed with solving a cooking issue that he even forgets about women. So, what if he was so focused trying to figure out the perfect missing ingredient for a new recipe, thus acting completely aloof, while everyone, especially the women, got worried thinking he was I'll or something like that?"_**

 **So, I left out the woman part, because I kind of forgot until I was halfway through and then I didn't know how to incorporate it so... oops?**

 **Also, this was a very dialogue heavy chapter, but I couldn't think of any other way to do it, and it's nice to mix up the writing style? I don't know.**

 **Either way if you enjoyed reading then please fave and follow for more, and if you feel like it, then leave a review with your thoughts. Thanks 3**


	28. A Day in the Life of a Chef

**Okay, bunch of notes, so here we go.**

 **First of all, sorry that this chapter is late. I originally planned on uploading this Monday, but then the writing of it got delayed by a bunch of things like writer's block, plans and Pokemon Go, so yeah, sorry about that...**

 **Second, I am now going down to weekly uploads, but since I will be on holiday in the next two weeks, I don't when exactly I'll be able to update. There will most likely still be a chapter each week, I just don't know what day of the week... When I get back though, I will announce a set date for chapters.**

 **Thirdly, this chapter was originally based on a request, and the person who requested it might be able to see this, but I decided that this chapter didn't do the request justice, so there will be another chapter for that eventually.**

 **Lastly, the follow up story for chapter 26 _Bravery shines brighter in the light of fear_ is up, and it is called _Words are Silver,_ so if anyone wants to read that now you can, and thank you to the people who have already read, faved and reviewed it. It makes my heart go doki doki 3**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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A day in the life of a chef

Sanji woke up in a very uncomfortable state. His back was aching, and the ground he was lying on was both muddy and pointy. Something was licking his hand, and he could taste blood, as well as something sour inside his mouth, which he immediately spat out. His head hurt, but it seemed like there was no damage other than a small bump, which was a good thing considering what had happened. He didn't have any broken bones either, and the thing licking him was a very harmless fox, so his immediate discomfort had turned out to be no more than that, thank God.

Sanji patted the fox and got on his feet to check his surroundings. There wasn't really much to look at other than just trees, more trees and then some other trees. It was a forest after all. He didn't really know where he was either. Sanji had been walking with the rest of the crew, having a good time, planning dinner, when something beneath them had exploded and literally sent them flying all over the place. By some miracle he had ended up alone with no idea where to go to find someone or even just the Sunny, so Sanji was pretty lost. Then again, it wasn't like there was any danger or threat posed by either monsters or enemies, so as long as no one was seriously hurt, it should all be fine. Sanji figured that it didn't really matter what direction he went in, the forest had to stop somewhere, and when he reached the shore, he could just follow it until he eventually reached the Sunny. A pretty sound plan if you asked Sanji and how big could this forest actually be...

Pretty big it turned out. Sanji had been walking for hours by now. The sun was setting and though there was plenty to eat, just walking without even knowing where he was headed wasn't the most interesting of things. For all Sanji knew, he could have been at the edge of the forest, close to the Sunny and then chosen to go in the opposite direction. The most frustrating thing was that Sanji actually could navigate in the forest. He could tell where North was by looking at the trees and the position of the sun, but they had docked the Sunny at noon and Sanji hadn't taken the time to ask where they had located her, so navigation didn't help him in the slightest. There wasn't much else to do, but keep walking and hope that the island wasn't much bigger than first anticipated.

By nightfall Sanji decided that he might as well make camp and found a spot where he could sleep more or less comfortably. He didn't get much sleep though, as a scream suddenly cut through the night and caught his attention. Sanji didn't recognize the voice, but sprinted towards the source with no hesitation. After a short run Sanji found a young boy. He could be no older than fourteen and it seemed that he had managed to fall down and hurt his leg.

"Do you need any help," Sanji asked, but apparently startled the boy while doing so and he took a step back to show that he was no threat.

"Who are you?" The boy asked bewildered, and Sanji put on a smile.

"Just a passing cook." The boy said nothing... "Do you live on this island? Do you want me to help you back?" Sanji offered as he couldn't find it in him to leave this injured child alone in the woods.

"My village lies just west of here," the boy said without looking him in the eye and Sanji helped him to his feet, then proceeded to carry to boy on his back.

"Just west of here, huh?" Sanji mused, he had been walking west anyway, and if the village was close that meant that Sanji would have stumbled upon it eventually, and who knows, maybe some of his crew mates were there as well.

They walked for a few minutes before Sanji began seeing the end of the forest. The trees started thinning out and he felt like he had reached some kind of milestone. He was just so happy to be out of the forest. It took them less than two minutes to reach the edge of the forest, but what Sanji found wasn't a village. The place looked like a deserted camp or base of some sort. There were big tents, some worn out camp fires and a few random possessions lying about. There were crates of questionable food, and Sanji spotted some poisonous things mixed in with what would be perfectly good fruits and vegetables. Not really the most optimal to place to put them,. Either way, it was clear that the boy had lied to him about the village.

Sanji was not really surprised when the boy suddenly whistled and a band of men sprang out from various bushes and tents to grab him and steal the boy away from him. None of them were strong and if Sanji fought back he could easily defeat them all in less than a minute, but he was rather curious as to what they thought they were getting out of capturing him. They had three men holding him in place and another five surrounding him with rifles, while the boy was being supported by a person standing in front of him. At least he hadn't faked his injury and Sanji had not been carrying him around for nothing.

"You said you were a cook, right?" The boy said aggressively and Sanji merely nodded. "Well, then, if you don't want to die, then make us some food! Now!"

Sanji looked at the boy for a moment before answering, "Why don't you make it yourself? You seem to have plenty food and plenty people."

"This forest is full things we don't know and we've already lost five people to poison, so you will cook for us, taste test for us, and then we'll think about letting you leave alive."

Sanji looked around at the people around him. They all looked hungry and desperate, and as a chef Sanji couldn't possibly turn his back on them, but if they wanted food they would have to cooperate.

"Fine. But you'll have to help me if you want food any time soon. You!" Sanji said and pointed at a random dude to his right, making the guy holding his arm fall backwards, "Throw away all the blue coloured berries."

"But what if there are any blueberries?" The guy said completely clueless.

"Poisonous." Sanji explained, "The blueberries on this island all have a red top. That makes them poisonous." _Seriously, did these guys know nothing?_

Sanji was then pushed along into a tent that had the worst cooking equipment Sanji had ever laid eyes on, but he just had to deal with that. He had already committed himself to doing this. The situation was quite fun though. Sanji knew that if they ever tried anything he could just beat them up and stroll right out of there, but for now they were just doing whatever he commanded and Sanji took full advantage of that. They may have been hungry, but Sanji knew that they weren't actually starving, so it was all good sport to make them run twice as much as needed to.

The really fun part came after he had served the food and they were all so impressed by his cooking that they invited him to join them.

"Are you guys pirates?" Sanji asked, because they sure as hell didn't seem like it.

"We are mountain bandits, but we had to flee from our island, when they said up a marine base. So we came here, but it didn't really turn out that well." _Didn't really turn out well..._ What an odd way to describe a situation where five people died.

"Well, I am sorry to disappoint but I can't join you guys. I'm already part of a crew that I love very much."

"Could you repeat that? I don't think I heard that correctly," a teasing voice peeped up and Sanji looked to the newly arrived Franky who had a very smug look on his face.

"I said that my crew mates are annoying and that they take me for granted. Maybe I _should_ join these mountain bandits!" Sanji replied sarcastically and they both laughed.

"Say. Why are you here anyway?" Usopp who had arrived with Franky asked.

"Oh, I was captured and they threatened to kill me if I didn't cook for them," Sanji said nonchalantly.

"That sounds absolutely _terrible,_ " Usopp answered and made a very exaggerated horrified look, "How will you ever escape!?"

"In my dreams, Nami-swan rides in on a white horse and saves me," Sanji said lovingly and made a swooning motion, "And then we'll marry and live happily ever after."

"Sounds like a good dream, but she's probably waiting for us on the Sunny with the rest," Franky said, and Sanji took the hint to leave.

"Well then, bye bye," Sanji waved to them and tore of the chains they had put on him. They tried, very badly, to make him stay, but none of them would have been a challenge to Usopp, even if he had been blindfolded, so Sanji literally just strolled over to Franky and Usopp, and let them guide him home.

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 **Since I had so many notes in the beginning, I'll just encourage you to fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts. It is much appreciated and thank you in advance :)**


	29. Mince Pie

**Not much to say about this one, but there are a bunch of references to previous chapters, so see how many you can find :D Also, I want to know if anyone actually understands the chapter name...**

 **Story set: After Time Skip**

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Mince Pie

Luffy has three main traits. The first one is his strawhat he wears so proudly. It is the symbol on his jolly roger which they all sail under, it is the name their enemies shout and it is the promise he keeps to an old friend. The second is the scar under his left eye. Sanji doesn't know its story and origin, but knowing Luffy it probably holds certain significance, and though Sanji doesn't like that Luffy is marked with injuries, the scar is oddly humanizing. The third trait of Luffy's is his smile. Sanji cannot count the many times his captain's smile has saved someone, be it himself, a crew mate or even an enemy. The smile on Luffy's face, Sanji has found, is a reason to live, and also something he would die for... Not that Luffy would ever let him. Zoro once tried to die for him and failed, and whether that was due to Zoro's stubborn nature, his love for their captain or maybe the magic of the strawhat wearing boy himself, Sanji would never know.

And while the strawhat would always sit on Luffy's raven head and the scar would always taint his olive skin, there were times where the smile would fade or be replaced by what Luffy thought was a fine substitute, but Sanji knew fake smiles as well as his kitchen. Luffy couldn't lie. Everyone knew that, and while Luffy's fake smile was close to being a perfect lie, his eyes gave him away. A genuine smile on Luffy's face was followed by bright eyes that did nothing to hide his thoughts and heart's desire, but a fake smile, while being just as wide and ridiculous, was accompanied by a cloudy gaze. It wasn't often that Sanji would catch Luffy faking his happiness, it had only happened a couple of times, and Sanji had never bothered to confront him about it, as it would never last long. Sanji understood very well that there were days where you just felt like actual shit even if nothing in particular had happened, and the thing was, when Luffy was sad or angry, he would show those emotions because there would always be a reason behind it. But some days the sadness had no home and being the captain, he would never allow himself to show any signs of unhappiness when there was nothing to be unhappy about.

It wasn't like Sanji was the only one to have noticed this about their captain. It went without saying that Zoro knew everything there was to know about Luffy, and Usopp, being the liar of the ship, could always tell when Luffy wasn't being genuine, and they all had their own ways of dealing with it. Sanji always took full advantage of his position as the cook. A bad day for Luffy always started off with the captain coming to the kitchen early, even earlier than Brook who would usually wake everyone up with a comforting tune, and he would take a seat by the counter, rest his head in his arms which would be spread on the surface and claim to be tired, but not able to sleep. Sanji would then give him a big mug filled with hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows. It wasn't often that Sanji got to spoil Luffy in this way since the captain always got the food he wanted, but Luffy never requested anything when he was feeling down, so Sanji was free to care for him in his own special way. Come breakfast and Luffy's appetite would not be on its usual level, so Sanji would give him something light that would maintain the illusion of Luffy eating as much as usual, because Sanji respected Luffy's decision of not bothering his crew with a bad day. He would start worrying if the bright smile didn't return by the next day though, as these moods of Luffy's only lasted for so long before he went back to being his usual happy-go-lucky self.

During the day Sanji would go out of his way to serve drinks to the crew more often than usual. It was not unlike Sanji to go around with snacks and drinks, but usually one could come to the kitchen if they needed anything. But unlike Sanji who would actually eat more when he was feeling down, Luffy always ate less, and while that was a good thing for their pantry, it was a bad thing for Luffy's health. The first time Sanji had experienced Luffy being down, it had been a hot day and the captain had almost collapsed from dehydration. This had been before Chopper had joined and it was Sanji and Nami who served as the doctors. Nami because she had basic medical knowledge, and Sanji because he understood how the body worked and how to prevent minor conditions such as dehydrating. From that day Sanji would always come to Luffy, where ever he may be, and make sure to keep him healthy and hydrated.

Though Sanji could never know the reason behind Luffy's sadness or if it even had a reason, Sanji had a sure fire way of lifting Luffy's spirits, if even just a little. It was a trick which Sanji alone knew of and only he could pull it off. It was a subtle gesture, so subtle that not even the other East Blue natives seemed to have caught on, but when dinner came and Zoro entered the kitchen with Luffy in tow, Sanji would be waiting with food that reminded Luffy of home. It would be simple meat dishes that went well with white rice. The spices would be sharp, but not burning hot, and the textures would be tender. The desserts which followed would be fruit based and sweet, but also simple in style so that it would hopefully look like something Luffy could have eaten as a kid. As a last act Sanji would serve Luffy a tea that would hopefully calm his mind and help him sleep, so that he could wake up on the next day and leave the sadness behind him. So far it had always worked.

Some might blame Sanji for not doing more to cheer up their downed captain, but Sanji knew that hovering too much around Luffy would do more damage than it would do good, and it wasn't like he was the only one to care for Luffy in his times of need.

Zoro would always go out of his way to either make Luffy nap with him or he would make sure to 'nap' in a place where Luffy would always be within sight. If fate was against them and Luffy happened to be on watch on a bad day, Zoro would always sneak out of the men's quarters to either keep Luffy company or take his watch for him. Whatever he did neither him nor Luffy would come back until it was time for breakfast and Luffy would always look happy and well rested, so Zoro was doing his job.

And while both Zoro and Sanji would spoil Luffy rotten and show their affection with small gestures and kind smiles, Usopp would act as the distraction, and take the crew's eyes off of their captain who would always be the centre of attention. Usopp had different ways to deal with the different crew members, and often it would only be necessary to distract one or two people, as everyone were usually busy with their duties. With Nami, Usopp would usually discuss battle tactics and fighting potential, since he was in charge of her clima tact. He would claim it to be time for an evaluation and ask if Nami wanted anything new or if something bothered her about her weapon. With both Chopper and Brook he would tell stories. Stories he had made up and stories about their past adventures and he would do it all while helping out another crew mate. This would usually be Sanji, since he would be focused on helping Luffy. Usopp would always volunteer to do the dishes or peel potatoes, anything really, because the boy had a heart of gold. With Robin he would either recommend a book or exchange artwork. Since Usopp was the more talented artist of the two, he would often offer to redraw some of her sketches to which she gladly accepted. Usopp had an eye for detail, and with Robin's messy sketches and her perfect memory they could always recreate exactly what Robin had seen. Usopp and Franky were gadget nerds and Usopp never had any trouble getting Franky in a working mood. Sometimes Usopp wanted to build a new weapon, or upgrade an old one, and sometimes he wanted to make useful gadgets, like the cooling device they had made for Sanji when he had been ill, or the firework display they had made for Chopper on his birthday.

Sanji wasn't sure whether or not the other crew members had caught on to any of these things, but as long as Luffy would always get back on his feet after a day it was all fine. It didn't matter if the crew pretended not to know and let Luffy be, or if they simply fell for his forced smile, in the end it all worked out, and if the day should ever come where Luffy had more than just a bad day, they would all be sure to be there for him just as he was always there for them. Thankfully that day had not yet come, and hopefully it never would.

However such thinking was ignorant and when Luffy one day came down for breakfast early and Sanji served him the hot chocolate, one look on the captain's face told Sanji that something was awfully wrong. There were signs of dried tears in his puffy and slightly wet eyes, and Luffy didn't even bother trying to look happy. He took his first sip of the chocolate and gave Sanji a little smile to tell him that it was good, but Sanji had stopped dead in his tracks and was torn between letting Luffy deal with this by himself and just give the poor boy a hug. In the end he never got to make a decision, as Zoro strolled through the door and, just as Sanji, immediately noticed that something was wrong. None of them spoke a word, but both Sanji and Luffy looked to Zoro who, with no hesitation, sat down beside Luffy and pulled him close. With Luffy safe by Zoro's side Sanji could once again go back to his morning duties, but he made sure to pour Zoro a drink first (no alcohol of course). The silence ended with the sound of Brook's violin. It was another new song, but Sanji didn't complain. The tune was comforting and Luffy seemed slightly more content than when he had first made his way to the kitchen. The beginning of the morning song was also a signal to the person on watch being relieved of their duties, and since Robin was very likely to be engrossed in a book, Sanji took the time to make her a cup of coffee and made his way to the crow's nest.

Sanji found her exactly where he had expected to find her, by the window furthest from the entrance and closest to the rising sun. She had a purple blanket loosely wrapped around her shoulders, her bare feet not covered and hanging over the edge of the couch. She wore her reading glasses, and had her gaze focused on the almost finished book, but she did take the time to give Sanji a smile when he entered, before going back to the book. He put the tray with coffee and a light snack close to her, and left quietly to not disturb her reading any further, but without looking up from her book Robin got Sanji's attention.

"It's such a nice day. It would be a waste not to take advantage of it."

Sanji's gaze lingered at her for a short while, but understood the message. When you had eyes and ears everywhere it was hard for people to keep secrets from you. Robin knew.

So Sanji prepared to have breakfast served on deck where everything would undoubtedly get a bit more messy and chaotic, and hopefully let Luffy sit in silence without anyone being any wiser. At some point Usopp had come to help him carry plates and cups outside, and Sanji thought that he might as well ask about Luffy, but he found the words stuck in his throat. Thankfully Usopp answered his unspoken question anyway.

"He had a nightmare... I think. When I woke up I could hear him breathe. He was trying to be quiet, but..." He trailed off and set down the last plate, "I don't know what caused it, but when Zoro followed him out, I figured that I wouldn't push him by asking questions..."

Usopp was struggling too. Sanji could see it in his face, hear it in voice, but Sanji could do nothing for him, after all, he felt the same way. It was no longer enough to just serve him good food and allow him to be alone, it was no longer an option to pretend that all was well, but what could they do? Both Sanji and Usopp were afraid to do anything to make it worse, because while Luffy's smile was to die for, his tears were like hell fire. When the rest of the strawhats followed they both put on their smiles and went back to pretending that all was indeed well, but once again, it seemed like people were catching on. They all knew that something was wrong.

The day went by slowly, and Sanji didn't see Luffy for the most of it. Zoro or Usopp would come once in a while to take food and water for their captain, so that gave Sanji zero excuses to go to Luffy himself. As Sanji readied himself to go to bed he felt frustrated, and while he usually folded his clothes neatly after having taken them off this evening he found himself simply throwing his clothes which such strength that had it been anything but soft fabric something would have broken. But simply throwing his clothes around was not enough to put out his burning flame, and after having stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, Sanji knew he would not get any sleep. He then sat up straight, but he didn't actually know what to do from there, so he stayed. He was the only one in the men's quarters at the moment, which was very common. Sanji was always the first one up and also the first one to go to bed, so being alone in the silent room was nothing knew, but somehow Sanji felt empty when looking at the bunk bed beside him. At the moment there were four bunk beds in the men's quarters. Closest to the door was the one Sanji slept in. He was the only one who didn't share a bunk with someone else, but Sanji always smiled to himself when he thought about the prospect of Jinbe joining the crew. For a brief period of time, the other bed had been occupied by Trafalgar Law, but after the pirate captain had reunited with his actual crew he had no longer had use of it. Next to him was the bunk bed used by Luffy and Zoro. Luffy was on the top one and Zoro had the bottom one, which was incidentally why Sanji slept in the top bunk despite him not sharing with anyone. He just didn't want to wake up to Zoro's face every morning, and while Luffy made some really stupid faces while sleeping, he sometimes made some sweet ones too. Then came the bunk shared by Chopper and Usopp. Of course Usopp was on top as he and Luffy would sometimes talk for hours and hours before going to sleep. In the beginning Sanji had found it annoying, but as time flew by, their voices in the night had become a sweet lullaby. The last bed was occupied by Brook and Franky. It had been upgraded in size after their two years apart, since Franky's body had gotten so big, and Brook was so damn tall to begin with, it was a perfect fit. Sanji usually had nothing against being alone in the room, but right now it felt wrong. It felt like he should be doing something to comfort Luffy, to ease his pain and take away his sadness, but he didn't know what to do, and that was so frustrating.

Sanji was starting feel hot, whether that was due to the warm night or his current state of mind he would never know, but he dealt with it and he tied his hair back in a ponytail. It was a rare occurrence for Sanji not to be covering up both his eyebrows, but right now he didn't care, his hair was bothering him and was starting to stick to his sweaty face, so it had to go. He buried his face in his knees and let his thoughts roam free. What could possibly have set Luffy off? Nothing particular had happened lately, nothing that would affect the crew emotionally at least. They had had a couple of average fights with some marine captains and some rookie pirates, but no one important. Today wasn't an anniversary for anything that Sanji knew of. Ace's death had had been last month, and his birthday was still a few weeks off. The anniversary of their separation was also the anniversary of their reunion. Sanji could think of nothing related to Luffy's past which could affect him so badly, but Sanji couldn't claim to know everything about their secretive captain. But then again, Luffy was not a person to get tied up in the past. While his past certainly defined him and shaped him as a person, it did not hold him back. A strength which Sanji admired and wished he had as well. But what was actually going on with Luffy? Sanji honestly couldn't figure it out.

After having thought so hard his brain started to get fuzzy, Sanji decided to go to the kitchen and get a cup of tea. He was slightly surprised to find the place completely empty, but it wasn't like he had any particular desire to see anyone. Maybe with the exception of Luffy whom Sanji really wanted to just hug tightly until his tears had magically disappeared. The sound of a door opening suddenly reached Sanji's ears and he was slightly disappointed to see that it was Zoro who had entered, yet he couldn't really find it in him to care all that much.

"Shouldn't you be getting your beauty sleep, princess?" Zoro said mockingly, but there was no real power behind the insult which would usually have Sanji all fired up. As much as he hated Zoro referring to him as princess, or even worse, as prince, he just didn't care right now. And then a thought struck him. Zoro would know what was tearing at Luffy's heart. Sanji looked intensely at Zoro for a bit trying to find the right words, but a calm conversation with Zoro was usually very hard to come by, so Sanji didn't know how to ask without provoking him.

"He's fine," Zoro said suddenly, and Sanji looked at him dumbfounded, "He just cares too much."

And somehow, Sanji was content with that answer. Zoro had no reason to lie, and Sanji found that even with Zoro's foulest insult, he never lied when it came to vital information. If he wanted to keep something a secret, he just didn't say anything. And Sanji found that his shoulders relaxed and he let go of a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and sleepiness suddenly hit him like a wave, and he was afraid that he might just fall asleep right then and there.

So while Sanji never figured out exactly what had had Luffy crying and depressed, he knew that somehow Zoro had taken care of it, and honestly, Sanji was fine with that, because even if he couldn't save Luffy from himself, at least someone else could, and if Sanji had learned anything from his time in the strawhat crew, it was that it was impossible to do everything by yourself.

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 **How was that? Was it frustrating not to get the answer to Luffy's pain? If so, there will be a follow up story, HOWEVER, the reason is actually hinted at in a previous chapter, so if you can correctly guess that, then congratulations :D**

 **If you enjoyed reading the please fave the story, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts. All support is much appreciated and I thank you in advance :D**


	30. Luck in War or Love in Cooking?

**Have you tried having an idea in your head and then when you start turning that head into reality it just changes completely? That's what this chapter is, which means that I'll just have to come back to the original idea at some point. Maybe next week?**

 **Also, GUYS! I just want to say thank you for all your support. I sometimes just go through all my reviews and they just make my day, so thank you all for being so nice to me :D**

 **Either way this chapter contains SPOILERS for anyone who has not read THE BEGINNING OF THE ZOU ARC. I'd say that you should be caught up to CHAPTER 812 and if you are anime-only watcher the anime will probably catch up in a month or two. Either way, I'll remove the warning when it's caught up.**

 **Story set: During Zou**

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Luck in war or love in cooking?

Sanji was a chef and fighter. His hands were used to cook food for his friends, while his legs were meant to protect them, and if Sanji ever found himself in a position where he had to choose between his hands and his legs, he'd choose cooking in a heartbeat. He loved the thrill of fighting, and he loved having the power to protect what he cared about, but fighting could never in a million years replicate the joy that went with feeding a hungry person, and having them say that it was the best meal they had ever had. There was simply nothing like it, which was why Sanji treasure his hands like Luffy treasured his hat. Yet it hadn't always been like this. When Sanji had first met Zeff he had grabbed a kitchen knife and used that to threaten the pirate and defend himself with, something Sanji would never be able to do now. When they had opened their restaurant and the first few fights had broken out, Sanji had fought with whatever he could get his hands on. As Zeff realized that a floating restaurant was bound to have more rogues and criminals than your average restaurant he took it upon himself to teach Sanji how to fight like a chef. Rule number one: Never use your hands. At first this rule had puzzled young Sanji, because fighting and cooking were different, and in the end they fought to protect the restaurant, so why not do it with your hands. Sanji was especially dissatisfied because when it came down to it, Sanji knew how to kick, but relying solely on kicks was hard, and he had always been taught to use every part of his body to the best of their potential. There was always a situation where Sanji would have preferred to deal a good punch to the face, or take one of his sharp tools to block swords, or maybe even get a good slice in, but Zeff always looked so disappointed whenever Sanji tried something with his hands, and coming from a place where a disappointed look always ended up in something that Sanji would rather avoid, Sanji quickly learned the way of the kicks.

Now, as an adult, Sanji understood why he must never use his hands. There were the simple practical reasons as he couldn't very well cook if he were to break his arm or get a hand chopped off, and with the amount of times Luffy had blood coming from his hands, Sanji knew that he should definitely stick to kicking unless he wanted to serve his friends blood after a fight. However, the main purpose of never using his hands came from something else, something more important. It was the same reason that Zoro held for never getting a cut on the back, and the reason why Brook would fulfil a promise even after his death. It wasn't only a simple matter of pride, principle or even honour. It was what defined them as a person. _A cut on the back is a swordsman's shame,_ something Zoro had once said and, even though the damn marimo annoyed the ever living crap out of Sanji, it was something that he would always remember. For Sanji a cut on the back was no worry, but a stain on his hands, now that was shameful to a chef.

So Sanji developed his fighting with his legs and through travelling with the strawhats and encountering stronger and stronger enemies, Sanji improved tremendously. Sanji had been relatively strong back on the Baratie, but compared to where he was today, he had been nothing but an ant in a pride of lions. It wasn't a simple matter of only gaining more physical power, but he also acquired certain techniques which helped him gain the advantage in a tricky fight. The ability to literally set his legs on fire was Sanji's big breakthrough, and from that moment it had only gone up. He had learned how to direct the fire from his legs as a form of long distance fighting, and he had figured out how to walk on air without the use of a gimmick or even a devil fruit. Everything he did, he did solely with his legs and where before he would always use his arms as support, he found that nowadays, he'd use them only for balance and gestures that would piss off his opponents.

He improved in cooking too. Every island they visited that had their own special cuisine and Sanji always insisted on staying on civilized islands until he explored their menus to the fullest, something which Luffy thankfully always backed up around meaning that Sanji always got his way. At first it was all about taste and a varied diet to support basic needs, but after Luffy and the others looked more and more worn out after each fight, and Sanji could feel his own body aching a long time after, he felt obligated to help Chopper with the recovery process by providing food that not only supported the body, but actually helped it and improved self-recovery. Zoro had been Sanji's ultimate guinea pig for this, even if the swordsman never knew, but the perfect way to check if a new recipe did the job Sanji wanted it to do was to serve it to the block head who used most of his time training in the crow's nest. Sanji is a little ashamed to admit that he once gave Zoro a stomach ache due to some minor miscalculations combined with a slightly weird idea, and blamed it on the fact that Zoro had been sleeping on deck on a cold day. In the end he had made it up to him by serving him his favorite meal the following day, and it wasn't like Zoro had been seriously ill or anything, so it was all fine.

And with all that Sanji had been improving, Sanji was still not prepared for the New World. The crew had come to the conclusion that Sanji had had the worst luck when it came to literally anything ever since their reunion. At first he had had his little... big problem with seeing women, which had not only resulted in him being dangerously low on blood a couple of times, but also meant that the first meal they shared had not been prepared by him, but by whoever Luffy had stayed with for two years. Upon entering the New World they had come upon Punk Hazard where Sanji ended up getting drugged and kidnapped all while wasting food in the process. And while he had no problems taking out the underlings of Caesar he did have trouble when he encountered Vergo who was not only a Haki master, but also a person whom it had taken the team-up of a Shichibukai and a Vice-admiral to beat. The only good thing that had come from this was that before leaving the island Sanji had gotten to serve one of his new dishes to not only his crew mates, but also a bunch of hungry soldiers (he refused to call them marines as they had been great allies in their struggle), who all liked the food. Then came Dressrosa, and oh boy, Sanji was strong, but facing Doflamingo was a little out of his league, and Sanji had known that from the moment he had taken him on.

All in all, Sanji wasn't really what you would call a lucky guy, and even after all of these horrible, unlucky happenings, his luck just didn't seem to turn. When they first arrive on Zou Sanji is only accompanied by Nami, Chopper and Brook (and Momo and Caesar, but Sanji doesn't really care too much about them), but after having escaped Big Mom they don't really expect to run into the crew mates of another Yonkou, but maybe that was naïve thinking? After all the first person they see is without a doubt a Kaido lackey, and while they had planned on taking on Kaido with Law, this _had_ to be a coincidence. But meeting Kaido's subordinates on the back of an elephant comes with more problems than what you would expect and when a sudden flood comes along they all get separated, and even though Sanji is still on the same island as the other three strawhats, he is getting seriously tired of always being apart. And in his frustration Sanji makes a mistake, forgets where he is and underestimates his opponent, which, according to himself, is the worst thing you can possibly do in a battle. When Sanji's leg charges against the Haki-clad club he can hear the crackling of his bones, and bites his lip to keep in a scream. The sudden pain is a weird relief though as it makes his senses oddly focused and clears up his cloudy mind, and without taking any more damaged from the stupid lackey with his stupid club he finishes the fight. It takes Sanji a little too long to get to Chopper with the pain in his legs, but what he could he do when they found that the entire population of Zou was literally dying due to a gas weapon made by a person they were currently holding hostage. So Sanji let Chopper (and Caesar) cure the minks before letting himself get treated and got around by leaning on and hopping around on his uninjured leg (except in the presence of Chopper where he would just endure the pain as well as he could). Needlessly to say, Chopper was extremely angry when Sanji came to him twenty four hours after the injury had been dealt, and had he not been the doctor Sanji suspected that he would have left the doctor's designated quarters with more than an injured leg.

His bad luck continues when he one day takes a stroll through the forest to gather some food and encounters another one of Kaido's subordinates who somehow didn't get to escape with the rest of them. This time Sanji didn't have the adrenaline to fight through the pain of his leg injury, so while he was probably much stronger than this weird looking person with horns, the fact that he literally couldn't use his legs was a big disadvantage. He needed both his legs for Blue Walk, so he had no way of getting into the air quickly, if he was fighting on ground he need one leg to stand and one to kick with, so this situation was just great. He didn't want to run away either, mostly because of pride, but in reality how far would he get with an injured leg? Probably not very far. Sanji tries to bluff and intimidate his opponent instead, but it seems that the guy is bewildered and not on his right mind and attacks when Sanji least expects it, and with his legs out of commission and a sword gunning for his neck, Sanji lifts his arms to defend himself. The sword isn't sharp and Sanji has seen both Zoro and Luffy stop a sword by placing their palms on either side of it, and when Sanji feels steel in his palms and no pain he figures that he succeeded... and then the pain sets in, and instinctively Sanji uses his good leg to kick to guy unconscious, but as a result collapses as his injured leg couldn't support him all that well. Sanji is no longer touching the sword, but the pain is still there and _damn_ in hurts. One would think that fire and heat wouldn't be a problem for Sanji, but it most definitely is and he had not expected the sword to be flammable. At this point it had been more than ten years since Sanji had ever had as much a blister on one of his hands and now both of them were covered in burn marks. For once in his life, Sanji ignores the fallen fruits he had gathered before encountering this enemy and makes his way back to his friends as fast as his injured leg allows him.

Luckily for Sanji, Chopper has acquired a special remedy for burns and it only takes Sanji a day to heal, but Sanji uses the day to think long and hard about what had happened. If he kept getting messed up every time they encountered an enemy Sanji would end up becoming nothing more than a burden. Sure, he was still valuable as a cook, but if his hands had gotten injured once by a mere no-name enemy it could surely happen again. Sanji silently decides to get his act together and just when he feels like he has overcome some internal battle, Capone shows up and everything goes right back down the shitter.

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 **... I don't actually know what this chapter was. I think it was fine, but I don't know, I think it's a little different from my other chapters. You can decide whether you like that or not. I still haven't decided on a day to upload, but I will soon.**

 **Please fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts. All the support is much appreciated.**


	31. Fourth Item

**Okay, so I have a bunch of notes, but I guess it's only the first one that's really important, so I'd encourage you to read at least that. Though the second one is kind of necessary for this chapter to make sense I guess.**

 **1) I have finally settled on a day, so from now on there'll be a new chapter each Tuesday (I know today isn't Tuesday, but my brother kind of convinced me to play monopoly, so I didn't have time to edit. But hopefully that won't happen again)**

 **2) This chapter, as well as the next eight, will all be tied to the first nine chapters. That means that this chapter is directly tied with chapter one _How is Kiwi like Venison and Whale,_ so I hope you remember that. Though I have planned out the next many chapters that doesn't mean that I won't be writing request. Some of the requests will be incorporated into the chapters, and of course you are still welcome to leave requests. There are no garuentees as to when the requests will be up, but as I have said before, this story won't end until I have written all the requests, and I still have a bunch waiting to be written. I'm doing this to celebrate 100+ reviews, 100 followers and almost 100 faves, so yeah, I'm quite happy if you couldn't tell :)**

 **3) Since the next issue of Shounen Jump is on break, I'll recommend some fics for you. If you enjoy these Sanji one-shots and you like angst then read _Stories of a Cook_ by _Katherine Von Karma._ If you want my take on Sanji's backstory then read _Proper Etiquette_ by me, and for Emmahoshi and everyone who's interested in a nakama-central adventure-ish fic, then read _Sun Kissed_ also by me. **

**4) As mentioned, this chapter contains information given in other chapters, so I hope you remember it :) Enjoy reading.**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Fourth item

It was a normal day for the strawhats. Actually, it wasn't really a normal day because it was quite peaceful. They were eating at a restaurant and for once they weren't disturbing every single person in the establishment. They were simply enjoying life and each other's company and around the table only small talk could be heard. Luffy wasn't even being silent, no no, he was just not yelling for once. Or maybe he was, but the food in his mouth kind of lowered the volume so it was all fine. They were eating at a place not too luxurious and expensive because Nami wouldn't have that, but not as shaggy as last time where someone had tried to poison them. It was somewhere in between and the food was good, the music was pleasant and the service was just as good as you would expect from a professional business. All in all, it was very enjoyable.

Each of them had gotten an extra large serving of their choice. Not because they were extremely hungry, but just because they knew half of the contents on their plate would go to Luffy who would steal it, because there was no reason for him not to taste everything the restaurant had to offer. Sanji had gone for a seafood pasta with squid and mussels, which he was slowly enjoying and picking apart because what the hell was this sauce? Damn it was good. The other crew members seemed to be thoroughly enjoying their food as well and Sanji was starting to think that this restaurant was severely underrated.

Each strawhat went through a full three course meal and by the end even Luffy was too full to eat any more, but they still stayed for a little while just to enjoy the music and the atmosphere until...

"Marines!" Someone yelled and Sanji looked outside the window he was sitting by and spotted a random pirate yelling to no one in particular, but it seemed that this was their cue and the strawhats hastily packed their things, left some money and ran to the Sunny. They had no reason to fight the marines today, so they'd rather just leave the island in peace and since the log pose had set the previous day, they really didn't have any more reason to stay.

It didn't take long to get to the Sunny and before no one ever knew that they were there, the strawhats had left the island behind. From there on the voyage continued and all seemed like the day would continue on with no incidents. But this was the strawhat crew and nothing would ever remain peaceful for that long and Sanji wished that they had gotten into a fight with the approaching marines, because that would have been easier to deal with than what followed.

It all started when Luffy went to the bathroom and stayed in there for way too long. Not that Sanji knew this as he had been in the kitchen the entire time trying to recreate the sauce he'd eaten earlier, but that's what Usopp had told him. Usopp had then proceeded to figure out what kept Luffy in the bathroom and had found him very ungracefully bent over the toilet throwing up. He'd then called for Chopper and the examination had begun. And how ironic it was that the person who loved food the most had now been diagnosed with yet another allergic reaction to food. And so the longest forty eight hours of Sanji's life began.

All of the strawhats, except for Luffy whom Chopper had put to sleep for now, were gathered in the kitchen and on the dining table between them was a big piece of paper. Since Luffy had had so many different things to eat it had been impossible for Chopper to determine what exactly had caused the reaction and since they didn't exactly want Luffy to have another vomiting accident, they needed to figure out what he was allergic to this time.

"No one ordered anything with Kiwi, did they?" Sanji asked, just to make sure they didn't start on a very big project for no reason.

"We've all pretty much sworn of Kiwi since Luffy revealed that he was allergic. There is no telling when he'll steal our food after all," Nami stated as a matter of fact and Sanji sighed. This was going to be a long day.

"So between the nine of us, we all had three meals, and no one ordered the same, so somewhere among those twenty seven meals is an ingredient which Luffy can't have..." Sanji summed up and they all just looked at the blank paper before them, "Well, no reason in putting it off, let's start."

They all started by listing what they had ordered, and from there on they listed the ingredients they were completely sure were used. When it was determined that Sanji had served them all these things on multiple occasions, they went deeper and from there on Sanji basically interrogated them all one by one. He started with the stupid moss head, as he knew that 1) Luffy always stole the most food from him and 2) if the ordeal dragged on he'd rather take him first rather than at a point where he had almost reached his boiling point.

The 'interrogations' went pretty much like this: Sanji would ask about the three meals the crew member had had, and then try to recreate said meal to determine what had been in it. Since Sanji had not tasted every single meal each person had ordered, he was completely depended on what the person remembered from the dish all from taste to smell to colour and consistency. When he'd then arrived at a result which the crew member deemed identical to what they'd ordered from the restaurant he'd scribble down the ingredients and see if there was anything unusual among them. He'd also give a copy of these to Chopper in case the combination of two things could result in a reaction that they under other circumstances wouldn't.

Luffy was up a couple hours after Sanji had started his mission, and all traces of uneasiness were gone. Sanji had saved Luffy for last because how unfortunate would it be if the ingredient he was allergic to had been in his dish and he had been forced to eat it again to determine what he was allergic to. Of course with the luck that constantly avoided the Sunny and her crew, Sanji made it through all eight of them without finding anything unusual and in the end Luffy was up. And somehow, Sanji still couldn't figure out what the hell Luffy had had that had made him ill.

Once again all of them were gathered in the kitchen, but this time was Luffy was there too.

"And you are _completely_ sure that you had _nothing_ but the food at the restaurant?" Nami asked for the seventh time and Luffy just sighed because this was getting way too repetitive even for him.

"Yes," Luffy said a little harshly, "Why would I lie? I'm the one getting sick!" Apparently getting ill and not being able to eat was one of Luffy's least favorite things (and why wouldn't it be?) and it seemed to rub him the wrong way. Sanji didn't like it.

"Okay, okay, sorry." Nami said though she didn't sound sorry at all.

"Well, as it happens I couldn't recreate Usopp's starter and both Chopper and Robin's main dishes, so the answer has to be in there," Sanji confessed, "but that probably also means that whatever it is that Luffy is allergic to isn't something we have stored on the ship, so until we reach a new island we should be fine."

So they set the find-out-what-Luffy-is-allergic-to quest aside for now and enjoyed their voyage until they reached the next island. Upon arriving at the new island which, thank God, had a rich civilization and a vast amount of different food, Sanji set off into town with Usopp, Chopper and Robin to hopefully find whatever ingredient hadn't been available to them on the Sunny.

It took them until sundown, and when they had used all their money on food, and all their time taste testing, it was Usopp's starter which had proved to be the cause of everything.

"Lentils?" Sanji gaped, almost shocked that it was such an ordinary thing.

"Why are you so surprised," Usopp asked, "You were the one to figure it out."

"Yeah, but..." Sanji tried to explain, "It's just so... ordinary."

"It is," Robin said, "Have you really never made food with lentils before?"

Sanji thought for a bit, "Only on the Baratie," Sanji recalled, "I don't really fancy lentils myself, so maybe that kept me from ever buying them."

"A stroke of luck then," Robin smiled. Sanji silently agreed with her, it seemed that luck was on their side after all.

And with everything over and done with, Sanji added the fourth item on the list.

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 **Well, I hope you enjoyed that. As a tease, the next one will have Zoro and Sanji nakamaship, so look forward to that :) If you enjoyed reading then please fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts. All your support is much appreciated.**


	32. A Late Night Drink Offers No Insults

**First of all, two messages to all my reviewers:**

 **1) It has recently come to my attention that even though I knew that about half of my readers do not come from native English speaking countries, not everyone is comfortable writing in English, even though I am. For this reason I would like to encourage everyone who'd rather write a review in their own langauge rather than in English to do so. There is no reason for you to leave a review in a language you don't feel comfortable writing in. I only request that if you write in another language than English, you leave a little note saying what language you write in, so that I may translate it properly.**

 **2) To all my guest reviewers: Since I obviously cannot answer you and thank you for your support directly, let me just do it here. Thank you for all your support and love! I do request that if you have a question or you want to start a discussion, you log in and allow me to answer you properly provided that you have an account. If you do not, then don't bother making one and just ask anyway :)**

 **If you read and remember my last author's note you will know that this chapter is directly linked to the second chapter, but I wanted to let you know that it also references chapter 26 _Bravery shines brighter in the light of fear,_ so I hope you remember what happened in that one.**

 **This also fulfills a request made by Angelheart17. Full request will be included in the end notes.**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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A late night drink offers no insults only praise

It was the middle of the day, when Usopp yelled from the crow's nest that a ship was approaching. All the strawhats immediately stopped whatever they were doing and readied themselves for a fight. When the ship slowly got closer they realized that that wasn't really necessary. It looked like something had already fucked them up good and though these pirates were still alive, it was only just barely. Some of them looked like they were on the brink of death due to injuries, while others looked severely underfed. One look at them and both Sanji and Chopper turned to get their Captain's permission to act on their morals.

"Let me feed them!" "Let me treat them!" They both requested at the same time and with no hesitation Luffy gave them the green light. While Chopper hurried to the ship, closely followed by Usopp and Zoro, Sanji hurried to the kitchen, as the remaining crew members secured the Sunny to the other ship. Sanji started off by making an emergency stew that would save the ones worst off and not half an hour later he and Brook were feeding the starving pirates.

Sometimes, and this was one of those times, the strawhat crew would forget that they were in fact evil pirates who didn't give a crap about others, and they would help strangers along their journey. The ship which they had first pinned down as an enemy approaching had somehow been turned into a rescue camp. The deck was used as a mess hall where Sanji had set up a mini kitchen that would save him from going back and forth between the two ships. The inside of the ship had turned into an emergency sick bay, where Chopper and his helpful nurses Nami and Usopp had more than enough on their hands. Franky was repairing the worn out ship as Luffy had gotten the full story of how they had been attacked by an enemy pirate crew, when they had been too weak to fight as they had run out of food. Brook was helping out where ever he was needed, which was usually in the mini kitchen as there were so many people who needed feeding, while Zoro was sat on the railing overseeing everything. At first Sanji had been annoyed with the fact that the stupid moss head wasn't doing anything to help out, but it soon occurred to him that he was probably doing the most important job. Protecting the crew from a potential enemy. However, Sanji thought as he eyed the swordsman, he didn't need to look so gloomy.

Sanji was ripped out of his thoughts when Robin appeared beside him with some medicinal herbs, which Chopper wanted him to incorporate into the food. When he had taken them she went inside, probably to see if she could help the doctor out. The loud conversations, the utensils constant clanging against plates and the occasional yells when someone needed help would have made an ordinary person go mad, but Sanji found it oddly comforting. What had been a dead ship when they had found it had suddenly come back to life, and Sanji loved it. He enjoyed it so much that he actually wanted to tell Zoro to stop sulking on the railing and just come join the fun, and had it been anyone but the marimo he probably would have done it. By the end of the day, he was thankful that it was Zoro who was sat there watching over them.

When Chopper had declared that everyone would be just fine and had let the crew's actual doctor take over, he and his three assistants emerged from the quickly made sick bay and joined everyone for food. When they were all full and Sanji had given them enough supplies to last for at least another week, they got ready to leave and with everything that had been going on, an attack was definitely the last thing they expected from the people they had just saved.

Sanji had just turned his back on the foreign crew to return to the ship, when Zoro suddenly leapt forward. It caught Sanji by complete surprise as Zoro was quickly moving towards him for a reason Sanji had yet to realize and he was forcefully knocked off his feet by the swordsman. Sanji was just about to complain when he saw Zoro preventing a sword from going right through him. He quickly got up and stared dumbfounded at the crew whom they had been dining with only moments ago.

"Why..." Sanji whispered so quietly that only Zoro could hear and he got a powerful _tsk_ as a response. But there was no time to dwell on the situation and Sanji quickly made sure that the pirates had taken no hostages before following Zoro into battle.

As he and Zoro fought, alone for some reason, as Luffy was doing who-knew-what and the others had safely boarded the ship, they faintly heard Chopper's request of not hurting anyone too much, and while Sanji never got to answer over the loud fight, Zoro just followed along. It wasn't much of a problem taking out the pirates, but every time Sanji's foot connected with one of his enemies he felt bad, because he had just been laughing and eating with this person.

When he and Zoro had finished up, Zoro spoke without looking at him: "We should take back our food." The words were spoken softly. There was no pity nor any resentment to be heard in his voice yet even after what the pirates had done, Sanji couldn't even bring himself to consider following Zoro's order.

"No," Sanji simply said and looked at Zoro. He wasn't starting a fight, because there was nothing to fight over. They wouldn't take the food. It was as simple as that.

Zoro looked to him, his confusion soon overtaken by frustration, "You'd give our food to the people who tried to kill us? It's not like we have an indefinite food supply. You of all people should know that."

"We can't take it! They'll starve!" Sanji yelled not having intended to raise his voice. Really. He did not want to fight him over this.

"They attacked us, you stupid curly brow. You'd give food to an enemy?" For some reason Zoro wasn't yelling and Sanji didn't like that he seemed the more unreasonable of the two since he acted on morals.

"I'd give food to anyone who needs it." Sanji stated like he had so many times, but apparently Zoro wasn't really buying it.

"Even if it meant us starving?" Zoro countered, still calm, and Sanji looked at him for a few seconds, before turning to look at the defeated pirates around them.

"They need it more than us. Look at how many of them there are. We are only nine, and we still have food for a week." Sanji looked back at Zoro, thinking that he had won the argument, but the swordsman was glaring at him, and Sanji couldn't understand why the hell he wouldn't back down.

"And what will you do when the next band of starving pirates cross our path?" Zoro wasn't backing down. Sanji was scared. If no one stepped in, Zoro would win. After all, he had the stupid power of being vice-captain. Where the hell was Luffy when you needed him?

"I'd give them what I could," Sanji said, he couldn't give up.

"Is that how much this crew means to you? You, our cook, would give our food to the enemy when we barely have enough. Did you not learn anything from last time?"

That stung. It hadn't been long since they'd been so low on food that Sanji and most of the other crew members had gone with almost no food for days, but Zoro was wrong.

"This crew means everything to me." Sanji said now just as calm as Zoro, "but I have my principles, and I will not be breaking them. Not today. You might find it stupid, but it's important to me."

It looked like Zoro was about to retort, but then, as sent from heaven: "Zoro." Luffy said softly and they both turned to find their captain standing close to them, "We'll let them keep the food. We've been sailing for a while, so we'll probably be on an island soon... or at least that's what Nami said, either way, we can spare the food." He smiled at them, and Zoro sighed. He couldn't act against his captain even if he wanted to. Sanji silently thanked Luffy and they went back to the ship.

It was late night, and Sanji could feel himself getting sleepy. He was making his way down from the crow's next where he had delivered Robin her coffee. He would make a cup of tea, while planning tomorrow's breakfast and then go to bed, but when he came to the kitchen he found that it wasn't as empty as he had left it. There was a cup of green tea and beside it was Sanji's notebook, which he used to plan out meals, and across the spot that had been laid out for him was Zoro with a bottle of saké. Sanji wasn't entirely sure what to think of this.

"Sit." Zoro said without looking and Sanji slowly did as told, not really knowing what to expect.

"Did you make this?" Sanji asked sceptically and gestured to the tea.

"Are you impressed?" Zoro teased and Sanji felt like he had been challenged to something. He took a sip. It was good.

"Not bad," Sanji said and Zoro smirked before taking a sip of his drink. When Zoro said nothing for a long time, Sanji decided that he might as well use the time, and started planning breakfast.

"Why do you write down what you're going to make?" Zoro asked, and Sanji almost felt like he wasn't talking to him, but he answered anyway.

"Because I need to make full use of what we have left. Different people need different things as well."

"Couldn't you just think about that when you cook?"

"It's more complicated than that... not that a moss brain would understand." Sanji was slightly worried when Zoro didn't retort.

"I don't think it's stupid," he then said after a few minutes of silence and Sanji's tired brain wasn't quite understanding what he was getting at.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your principles. I don't think they're stupid." Sanji said nothing, "What? Lost for words," Zoro then teased.

"I'm just trying to find the insult," Sanji answered slowly and regretted saying it out loud.

"It's not supposed to be an insult," Zoro said and looked at him like he was an idiot, which, in all honesty, was quite fair.

More silence followed as Sanji wasn't quite following the situation. He would later blame this on sleepiness. Sanji enjoyed the rest of the tea and finished planning his morning. Zoro still hadn't left.

"Do you want anything...?" Sanji slowly asked. Under any other circumstance he would have kicked him out of the kitchen, but after being... complimented by Zoro he couldn't really find it in him. Another thing he would later blame on being tired.

"Can't I just sit here and enjoy my drink?" Zoro said a little absent minded and Sanji wondered what he was thinking about.

"I suppose..." Sanji wondered and shot a last glance at Zoro before going to bed.

Just before Sanji fell asleep he wondered why he and Zoro couldn't have more moments like that, but come morning and they were arguing about table manners and other things which Sanji couldn't remember. However, as Sanji finally served Zoro his breakfast he caught him smiling.

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 **Angelheart17's request: _"Sanji giving food to an enemy. I feel like it's something that would happen."_ I knid of did this in the chapter called _A day in the life of a cook,_ but it didn't really feel like it was all that it could be, so I put it here instead.**

 **Also, I know that I had a lot of notes in the beginning and if you didn't read them, I would encourage you to do so, especially if you are a guest reviewer or you don't speak/write English as your native language.**

 **If you enjoyed reading then please fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts.**


	33. Only Exception

**Okay, so I know that I'm a day late, but the people following _Proper Etiquette_ will know that I got ill and it kind of delayed the writing of everything, so sorry about that. **

**GUYS! The story has 100 faves! Thank you so much!**

 **So this chapter is linked to the chapter 3 _Are you sure I don't have to pay for the cake?_ And I wanted to go with the same theme, but take it in the opposite direction... It'll make sense when you've read it.**

 **I also managed to incorporate a request for LonelyMuffin. I know I said it would take a few months, but it just fit so well into the story so here you go. Full request will be included in end notes.**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Only exception

People want to be celebrated differently. Some people don't like to be celebrated at all, and then some really really like to be celebrated. The strawhats had all kinds.

Sanji belonged to the category that didn't really like to be celebrated. He always felt kind of awkward when he got a lot of praise, and the attention was on him for a long period of time. He was used to going silently about on the Sunny with trays of snacks and drinks. He moved smoothly, softly, quietly, never allowing the attention to turn to him. And it wasn't that Sanji didn't like being recognized for what he did, and he liked compliments too, but that was all he wanted. A quick thank you, and a comment on how good the food was, he didn't need more than that.

Then there was Luffy. Always the centre of everything that happened. And though Luffy liked getting attention, he wasn't too fond of being celebrated either. He liked attention, he liked parties and everything that came with it, but just like Sanji, he'd rather party for someone else's sake. Which was why when someone's birthday came up, Luffy was sure to go all out.

And for the people who liked being the centre of attention, and liked being celebrated, there was no better place for them to be than the strawhat crew. And Nami knew this. It was no secret that Nami always allowed Sanji to spoil her rotten, so when her birthday came around, the chef had to figure out a way to make it as special as possible.

Sanji was up extra early for Nami's birthday, and it seemed that he wasn't the only one. Sat in the kitchen, working on something that was probably for Nami, were Robin and Brook.

"Good morning, Sanji-san~" Brook sang, and went back to his work. It seemed that he was writing something.

"Morning," Sanji yawned, it really was very early, "Would you care for some tea?" Sanji offered, he could use a cup himself, "or would you prefer coffee, Robin-chan?"

They both accepted the offer and Sanji got in the kitchen to make the morning drinks.

For some time, the kitchen was silent with the exception of Brook's humming which no one opposed to. It was very soothing after all.

"Done!" Brook suddenly exclaimed and Sanji almost dropped the knife he was holding. Sanji then looked at the skeleton, expecting to find out what he was done with, but Brook never gave an answer and just walked out of the kitchen. Sanji then turned to Robin, but she just chuckled and went back to working on some white cloth.

Sanji turned his attention back to the task before him. Breakfast. A birthday breakfast for Nami. The obvious answer would be to make something with tangerines, but Sanji wanted to do something more. In the end he made something simple. Sanji thought back to the banquet they'd had in Nami's home town, and drew on those flavours. He wanted to make something that would take her back to the people she loved, but had left behind in the favour of adventure with the strawhats. Sanji knew she never regretted leaving, but that doesn't stop a person from missing home every once in a while.

At some point Sanji heard people running around on deck, but he decided to ignore it. If they did anything wrong, at least it wouldn't mess up the kitchen.

When Sanji was almost done Franky came to inform him that they had decided to have breakfast outside, and Sanji had a few people help him bring all the food out. The crew had really gone to town with the decorations. Everywhere Sanji looked there were brightly coloured flags and lights. The grass which usually made the surface of the Sunny's deck, suddenly looked more like a flower field. There was a big banner, most likely made by Usopp, that said _Happy Birthday Nami!,_ so now all they needed was Nami herself.

When everything was set to perfection, Robin went to get Nami, who had probably just been waiting for the celebrations to start, and so it began. Everyone was in high spirits and though they had yet to just completely lose themselves in the mood, they were just on the brink of it. As Robin sensed that a proper strawhat celebration was just about to arise, she suggested that Nami get her gifts. The strawhats rarely did birthday presents. Sometimes they'd give one big thing, or they'd just party all day long, but Nami loved gifts so why not? Her gifts ranged from everything between clothes, cartography supplies and books. Luffy offered her meat because this was Luffy and what else would he do? Zoro gave her booze, because she had forced him to buy it for her not long ago.

Robin gave her a dress she had made. It was white and knee length, and Nami quickly changed to wear it as soon as she had gotten it. Sanji was very quick to compliment both the girls on how good it looked. Brook gave her a song. At first the song was very sweet, but at some point it had turned into a praise for her wide range of panties. Sanji wasn't too sure what to feel about it, but Nami had been quick to stop the singing when it had become too much.

Sanji himself had told Nami that he would give her whatever she desired, and he was waiting for answer. And here was the kicker. Sanji knew that Nami was a sadist. He knew that she liked to make the crew suffer (not too much of course), but he liked to think that with everything he did for her, she'd spare him the pain. He was wrong.

"Sanji-kun," Nami smiled sweetly, and he was immediately by her side, but one look in her eyes told Sanji that she was scheming something.

"Yes, Nami-swan?"

"I have decided on my present," she said and she suddenly had this very weird glint in her eyes. It was a little similar to how she'd look when there was an opportunity to get filthy rich, "I want you to sing me a song."

Sanji could immediately feel his ears go red and tried to hide his face in his shirt, "Are you sure you don't want something else?"

Nami made an exaggerated gasp, "I thought you said that you would do anything I asked?"

Sanji felt his heart fall, "I will!" He said still flustered, "I will, but..." _I don't want to sing,_ was left unsaid.

"Then sing me song," she said, still smiling like a little devil. Sanji, still trying to hide himself in his own clothes, took a step backwards. What he hadn't noticed was that during his and Nami's little 'argument' everyone had moved a little closer and he walked directly into Usopp. Caught off guard Usopp fell to the ground, and the food beneath him was only just saved by Robin. But just as Robin had moved to save the food, so had Luffy. He just happened to have been standing the furthest away from Sanji and Usopp, and had charged directly into Franky, who had then fallen and trapped both Chopper and Brook beneath him.

Sanji looked at the mess before him, "Sorry," he muttered and Zoro burst out in laughter.

"Shut up!" Sanji yelled at him and threw an empty cup after him. Zoro dodged effortlessly and continued laughing. Sanji was sure that his face was completely red by now.

"Look, now you _have_ to sing me a song," Nami said and joined Zoro in his laughter. She was really having a good time torturing him.

Before Sanji could protest, Brook, who had escaped from underneath Franky, was suddenly playing the tune to a song which both he and Nami loved. Sanji could feel himself cracking under all the peer pressure.

And so Sanji sang. He sang and tried to pretend that no was watching or listening, when in reality everyone had moved a little closer. And when he was done they all clapped and asked for more to which his response was just going to the kitchen. Sanji didn't like focused attention, and he didn't like it when people heard him sing. Combining the two wasn't good for him.

The door to the kitchen suddenly crept open, and Nami strolled in. The redness was starting to come back to his ears and cheeks.

"I won't do it again," she chuckled, "I promise."

Sanji was about to thank her, when... "But I can't say anything for the others though. Luffy really like singing after all." She smiled brightly and went back to her celebration.

One way or the other, this crew would kill him. Sanji was sure of that.

* * *

 **Request by LonelyMuffin: _Chapter focused on Nami wanting to hear Sanji sing._ I don't know if it was focused on it, but you know that I will incorporate it into a seperate story, so yeah. Here you go.**

 **Also, I feel like I've used this kind of ending before, but I'm so sleepy right now, so I'll check it later...**

 **Anyways, if you enjoyed reading then please fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts.**


	34. Love Keeps the Cold at Bay

**As with the previous couple of chapters, this one is linked to chapter 4 _The Best kind of Soup._**

 **And GUYS next time I update I will be back in school :O I'll still update every Tuesday, and if I ever find myself in too much homework, I'll warn you. So unless I say so nothing will happen to the upload schedule. I will take all exam weeks off though, so now you know.**

 **Anyways, enjoy the chapter :)**

 **Story set: Timeless**

* * *

Love keeps the cold at bay

It began in the morning. Nami arrived for breakfast alone, and told Chopper that Robin wasn't feeling too well. The reindeer had immediately left to check up on their archaeologist, and returned not long after, reassuring everyone that it was nothing but a common cold. It would pass soon, if she just rested. When Chopper went to return to the Girls' Room with some medicine, Sanji handed him a pot of tea to give to Robin as well. He couldn't very well sit idly by when one of the girls was ill.

About an hour after breakfast, Nami sneezed, but figured that it was just the chilly weather. Another hour passed, and she began to feel her head throbbing and went to Sanji for a warm drink. She didn't leave when she had finished, but asked for another and as Sanji served her the second drink she asked why the kitchen was so cold. Sanji raised an eyebrow, and when she sneezed again, Chopper told her to go rest until her cold had calmed.

Lunch came and went as usual, except that the girls were eating in their room with Chopper taking care of them. The girls not being there meant that the boys were a little messier than usual. Sanji allowed them to have their fun, as long as no food was wasted and they stayed out of the kitchen. Besides, he always liked laughter better than awkward silence, and he was glad that the girls being down with a cold wasn't enough to shake the crew.

Next one to go down was Franky. It had suddenly started to snow. Not much, but Sanji was sure that Luffy would be able to build snowmen the next hour. Although it didn't snow much it was still cold enough for even Luffy to have put on a coat without anyone making him. Yet Franky was still going around half-naked and when Chopper confirmed that he indeed had a mild fever, he sent him straight to bed.

Apparently the saying _idiots don't catch colds_ was a lie. The combination of the cold weather that now even Chopper was finding uncomfortable, and the bacteria that was obviously roaming their ship was obviously a bad thing. Sanji started suspecting something was up when their always energetic captain ran out of steam before dinner. He quickly had Chopper check on him and he was glad he had noticed the slight change. But just because they knew Luffy was ill didn't actually make their situation easier. Luffy was hard to deal with because he didn't want to admit that he'd caught the cold as well. He didn't like to be bedridden, and the only reason that he didn't protest when injured was because he slept through it all. What convinced him in the end was Franky's promise of making their sick time fun. He had some new small things he wanted to make, and Luffy loved gadgets... as long as he wasn't the one making them. He just didn't have the attention span for it. Chopper only allowed it as it would keep Luffy occupied, and Franky was reasonable enough to not push himself or make something that could blow up.

It should have been predictable that the person to fall after Luffy would be Zoro. It only made sense. He had asked Sanji for a drink, and when the cook had snapped at him for not asking nicely, Zoro had just sighed and Sanji knew that something was up. He had expected for Zoro to protest like their captain, and claim to be perfectly fine, but Chopper was experienced in dealing with Zoro. Unlike Luffy he rarely slept through his injuries and the little doctor had his fair shares of troubles when it came to making Zoro rest.

So when it was time for dinner, it was only Chopper, Usopp, Brook and Sanji himself who had escaped the cold. Why Chopper wasn't down yet was a mystery, but at least the others made sense. Sanji had spent more time in the kitchen than he usually did as it had been the girls who'd gotten ill first. He'd used most of his time making them the best drinks and snacks for recovery, only going out when he figured people could use something warm to get them through the snowy weather. Usopp had been working on something the whole day and had hardly interacted with anyone. Sanji had even had to bring him his lunch, because he hadn't paid attention to the time. Brook was a skeleton and couldn't catch colds, so even if they all became victims to it, at least he could take care of them.

However right now the four of them were gathered in the kitchen. By some miracle all the ill crew members were sleeping, and Chopper was taking a well deserved break.

"Are we still moving?" Usopp suddenly asked putting down his bowl of soup. Sanji was making sure to keep the cold away from the remaining crew members. It'd be bad if they all got ill.

"I believe we are," Brook answered with mouth full of food. Sanji would have reminded him of keeping his manners, but his mind was too tired to care right now.

"We should stop then," Usopp suggested, "Keep weather changes to the minimum. As long as we stay inside, the cold shouldn't be a problem."

And so they did as Usopp suggested. They might now have said it outright, but with Luffy and Zoro sleeping off their colds, Usopp was in charge. After dinner Brook went to help Chopper with his duties, and they made their rounds to the crew members, making sure that they were as comfortable as possible and resting properly. Usopp volunteered for watch and set of to the crows nest with some heat dials to keep him warm.

Sanji cleaned the kitchen, began cooking a new pot of soup which would get really tasty if left to simmer overnight, and then he made some snacks and warm drinks for Usopp. The Crow's Nest might be sheltered from the snow, but it still got cold incredibly quick. Sanji put on his coat, took the tray and some extra blankets, and headed for the Crow's Nest. The snow was still falling and since no one had bothered to clear out the deck, Sanji was now having trouble walking. The snow almost went all the way up to his knees, and as he walked he felt as his feet slowly got cold.

Once in the Crow's Nest, Sanji decided that he didn't want to go back out just yet, and stayed with Usopp, who was still working on something. Usopp thanked him for the drink and they sat together in silence, both wrapped in their blankets to keep the cold at bay. It wasn't even that cold in the room, as Usopp had very cleverly made full use of the heat dials by using wind dials to spread the heat around. Still, it was comforting to look at the snow, while you were snuggled up inside a soft shell.

"What are you doing?" Sanji then asked, because he couldn't really figure out what Usopp had been working on this whole time.

"Upgrading Nami's Clima Tact," Usopp answered like it was no big deal. Franky might be their shipwright, mechanic and general mecha nerd, but Usopp had a special talent for unique weapons. One could only look once at his slingshot to be instantly impressed by his skill. And that skill had only been polished as he and Franky had gotten along so well. Sometimes it was hard to believe that the first time they had met, Franky had brutally beat Usopp up and basically left him to die. Funny how fate sometimes worked.

Sanji turned his attention back to the window where he could see the lights in the kitchen. He saw the shadows of Brook and Chopper moving about, and then he could no longer see anything. With no warning the peacefully falling snow thickened and the wind made itself noticed. Before long a full blown snow storm was roaring outside, and Sanji refused to leave until it had calmed. He wasn't too fond of winter.

And then he sneezed.

Usopp immediately looked up and when their eyes met they both knew what was going on. The cold had taken another strawhat down.

"I should leave before I infect you too," Sanji said and was just about to get up when Usopp was suddenly beside him holding him down.

"You shouldn't go out during a storm," he said softly, though Sanji hinted the order in his voice.

"But you'll get ill too if I stay," Sanji said and tried to hold back another sneeze he knew was coming. Sensing this Usopp slowly moved away and Sanji sneezed into his blanket.

"I'll rather catch the cold than have you go out in that," Usopp gestured to the storm, which was getting worse by the minute, "We'll just stay as far away from each other than possible, and hope for the best."

"You're forgetting that this crew has no luck," Sanji said trying to make a joke, though his voice made the statement sound more grave than what he meant for it to.

"With all we've been through, I think that it's pretty lucky that we're still alive," Usopp retorted and smiled. He was probably right.

Usopp then moved to the tray Sanji had brought with him, and poured a cup of tea. However, he didn't drink it, instead he gave it to Sanji.

"I made that for you, you know," Sanji said, but took the tea. At this point he knew better than to go against Usopp's wishes.

"Yeah, but you probably need it more than me right now, besides, how long can this storm last. I'll make some for myself when we can get out of here."

As it happened, the storm lasted the entire night. At some point Sanji had fallen asleep, and was woken up by Chopper asking how he was feeling, and if he could walk to his bed by himself. Although his head was pounding, and he couldn't actually breathe through his nose, walking was no problem. Once inside the Men's Quarters Sanji collapsed on his bed and never even noticed as Chopper covered him with warm blankets.

Next time Sanji woke up the only one in the room was Usopp. He was awake, but obviously also recovering from a cold.

"I told you I should have left," Sanji said and caught Usopp's attention.

"I didn't catch it until morning so no harm done. I think the girls are fully recovered too." Usopp reassured him. Sanji was wondering if anyone knew him as well as Usopp did.

"And the guys?" Sanji asked, taking a look around the empty room.

"Chopper allowed for them to leave, as they no longer had fevers. They have been forbidden from moving around too much though."

"Good luck with keeping Luffy from running around," Sanji laughed, "It's a miracle that he stayed in bed yesterday."

Then something occurred to Sanji. If he was just sleeping and not attending to his duties, and Usopp wasn't there to cover for him, then who was cooking?

"Do you know-" Sanji started, but then something exploded and they looked at each other, dread in their eyes. Sanji burrowed his head in his pillow and screamed. He would murder the person who had dared mess up his kitchen.

* * *

 **So, I actually plan to return to the _who messed up the kitchen_ plot point in next chapter, so I guess that you could say that this is only part one of two. **

**Also, how many understood the _Sanji wasn't too fond of Winter_ line? I hope my intentions with that sentence made sense to at least some of you :)**

 **As always, if you enjoyed reading please fave, follow for more and leave a review. It'll make my day, and thank you all for your lovely support :D**


	35. It's the Thought that Counts

**No one will ever know that this chapter was half an hour late, so shhh~**

 **So, this again a story that connects to a previous chapter, this time chapter 5 _How to build a gingerbread house._**

 **Also, I have been going through my story, and I decided to put a little time stamp on each chapter, since I actually have a couple of people who are still catching up to the manga/anime. So even if I put a warning for anime-only watchers, some people might still get spoiled. So yeah, if you find a chapter where you don't see a time stamp, then let me know so that I can fix it :)**

 **Story set: Timeless**

* * *

It's the thought that counts

Sanji ran to the kitchen. His legs were a bit weak and his head slightly fuzzy, but what choice did he have? The door wasn't even closed and smoke was rising from within. Someone was going to die. Sanji covered his mouth with his hand, yet he still coughed in the thick and dirty air. The culprits were quickly found as none of them had thought of leaving the kitchen.

Where Sanji was pretty sure there had once been a dining table was now a big black burn and three people. Franky and Luffy, whom it really didn't surprise Sanji were there, and Chopper for reasons Sanji had yet to figure out. All three of them were suffering from the after effects of the explosion. They were coughing, but only lightly which meant that Sanji couldn't feel bad for them, their hair was spiked and their fronts were covered in black sod and... something else. Besides the smell of burnt wood, there was also the sickening stench of burnt caramel.

"Ah~ What a surprise," Luffy sang calmly and Sanji immediately went to kick him into the nearest wall.

He then kicked both Chopper and Franky lightly in the head with his heel. Unlike Luffy they weren't made of rubber, and Sanji was suspecting that Luffy was the main reason for the disaster anyway.

Sanji then went to asses the damage done to his kitchen. Luckily the explosion had happened in the dining area so nothing had been completely destroyed. However, pieces of wood had been flung around and had smashed a couple of things in the progress. One of the cupboards containing some of Sanji's favorite plates (the nice blue ones Nami had bought when she joined the crew) had been completely ruined, there was a huge dent in the oven lid and Sanji was sure to make Franky check up on the stove before he dared use it again. He didn't want a second explosion to occur. Other than that the kitchen was just really messy with black sod and whatever this weird cream was.

As a curious chef Sanji wiped some of the cream off of the kitchen counter and inspected it. It smelled burnt (as everything else did), but Sanji picked up the faint sweet scent as well. He then tasted it, just a bit and made sure to spit it out afterwards. Who knew what kind of diseases this could hold? At least now he knew what it was. Meringue. That also explained why it smelled like burnt caramel.

Sanji went back to where Franky and Chopper were sitting, and saw that Luffy was sitting by the wall he had been kicked into. Luffy looked guilty, yet at the same time like he didn't regret it... at least not fully. Franky seemed to be deep in thought, while Chopper actually looked apologetic.

"Sanji, I'm sorry," the little doctor pleaded with tears in his eyes. How could Sanji stay mad at that? He went to the reindeer and patted him in the head, making Chopper smile.

"So you forgive us?" Luffy grinned, but Sanji glared angrily at him, and he understood the message.

"I wonder what went wrong...?" Sanji heard Franky wonder behind him and he kicked him again.

"I hope you all had a really good reason for blowing up my kitchen," Sanji said angrily and glared at Franky because there was no doubt that he was the reason something had had the potential to explode in the first place.

"Sanji..." Chopper tugged at his leg and Sanji looked down to him, "We were just trying to do something nice."

"Yeah, yeah" Luffy agreed, "We tried to do something nice!"

"How is ruining my kitchen a nice thing?" Sanji was still furious, but the little reindeer holding his leg was calming his anger, if just slightly.

"Obviously we didn't _intend_ to blow everything up, it just happened," Franky said calmly and Sanji wondered if he should have kicked him harder to get the point across.

"We wanted to bake you a cake," Chopper then said and Sanji looked at him surprised, and for a moment, just for a moment, he forgot that he was supposed to be angry.

"What?"

"Luffy wanted to do something for you since you always work so hard," Chopper continued, probably having realized that Sanji had forgiven him, and only him, "and then you got ill, and we thought it'd be the perfect time to do it."

"But then we added some candles to the cake and for some reason it exploded..." Franky finished and this time Sanji made sure to kick him a bit harder.

"Cakes don't explode, you shitty robot. You must have done something to it!"

"I'm not a robot, I'm a cyborg!" Franky shouted and stroke a pose. Sanji didn't even have it in him to kick him again, so he just sighed. But now he was curious. It wasn't like Franky to make something that would randomly explode. At least not when he knew he was in an environment where explosions were an no-no.

"So what did you put in this exploding cake?" Sanji asked, wonder completely overtaking his previous anger, "I mean, I presume that you didn't use any gunpowder or anything like that."

"Well..." Franky sang and looked away from Sanji who just dead panned.

"Are you fucking serious?"

"It's not like we put it _in_ the cake," Luffy said defensively, but the one person Sanji didn't trust when it came to cooking explanations was Luffy.

"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain the mystery explosion?" Sanji said in the most Luffy way that he could.

"... It's a mystery," Luffy said and looked straight into his eyes. Sanji sighed again.

"Someone tell me why the hell you decided to put gunpowder in the cake."

"We wanted to make this mini firework sort of thing," Franky explained, Sanji feeling the mecha nerd setting in, "so we had the centre, which was the fireworks, and then we build the cake around it. And it shouldn't have connected to anything, but when we lit the candles around the cake it exploded..."

"What kind of cake was it again?" Sanji asked, starting suspect what had happened even if the others had no idea.

"Just a chocolate cake, why?" Franky answered, and Sanji went into the ruins of his kitchen. He didn't have to search long before he found the bottle he was looking for. A big bottle with a label holding his hand writing.

"Did you use this?" Sanji asked and shoved Franky the bottle.

"Yes! How did you know?"

Sanji could have smacked Franky's head with the bottle, but he'd waste whatever was left of it.

" _This_ " Sanji said forcefully, "Is a home made sugar mixture which is has an _extremely_ high alcohol percentage. And what are one of the main properties of alcohol?" Sanji didn't wait for an answer. "It's flammable."

Franky's mouth made an 'o' shape, as he looked more interested in the fact that he now knew the reason for the explosion than the fact that the kitchen was ruined.

"I'm expecting this mess to be gone before dinner," Sanji said sternly, but then caught Luffy trying to sneak out, "And since this was your idea _captain,_ it's only fair if you help out."

"But-" Luffy started, but then Sanji coughed, apparently still not having recovered from the cold and he supposed that being in a room filled with smoke didn't exactly help his health along.

"Sanji!" Chopper exclaimed, as he had probably forgotten that he had never actually given Sanji permission to leave his bed. The little doctor then pushed Sanji outside where the air was unbelievable refreshing, but that left the two other troublemakers to deal with the mess that was the kitchen. Sanji was quickly ushered back to the men's quarters, where Usopp gave him an odd look, as Sanji was forced back into his bed. Chopper did some basic check-ups and while Sanji was definitely recovering, he should still rest before going back to his regular job as a strawhat chef.

"Thank you," Sanji said to Chopper as he was about to leave to get some cough medicine.

"Don't worry, it's my job after all," Chopper smiled, but Sanji just shook his head.

"For the cake," he clarified, "It was very sweet of you... even if you completely failed."

"Then next time we try, we'll succeed," Chopper said and left to get the medicine. Sanji looked up at the ceiling and silently prayed that they wouldn't actually try to cook again.

* * *

 **I have nothing clever to say about this, so if you enjoyed reading then fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts. All the support is much appreciated :D**


	36. History Repeats Itself

**Right then, it's twelve hours late, but here it is :D As always this is thematically connected to chapter 6 _Coffee keeps the story going,_ so I hope you like it :D**

 **Warning: SPOILERS for people who aren't CAUGHT UP to the manga. Although the spoilers are minimum, but still.**

 **Story set: After Whole Cake Island**

* * *

History repeats itself

"You should have known better," Robin said as Sanji handed her the coffee. As is customary on Wednesday nights, Robin has watch and Sanji provides with coffee. Not because she needs it to stay awake, but because it happens to be her favorite beverage.

"Really?" Sanji replied and raised an eyebrow. He seated himself by a window opposite her, and she took a sip of the coffee.

"Yes," she said and looked up at him, "I did the same thing after all."

"Is that so~" Sanji almost sang, "I'm pretty sure that our situations were different."

"And I'm pretty sure they weren't as different as you think they were," she countered.

"I was practically kidnapped," Sanji argued, "It's not like I had much of a choice."

"You always have a choice," Robin said, "Besides we both left to protect them, so the circumstances don't really matter."

"I guess you're right," Sanji said, "But at least I never said that I wouldn't come back."

Robin chuckled, "No, but you said you would come back even though you knew you probably couldn't."

"I _might_ have escaped," Sanji pouted childishly.

"You might have, but let's be honest, Luffy probably preferred saving you."

Sanji laughed, "True, if anything, he got to eat an entire café made of sweets."

"That's right," Robin said as if she just realized something, "Your fiancée was a chef, wasn't she? And a pretty one too. What was her name again?"

"Charlotte Pudding," Sanji answered, "She was quite skilled. Beautiful too, but of course nothing compared to you, Robin-chan."

"Hmm~" Robin hummed, "I bet you said the exact same thing to Nami."

"Well, Luffy might be an idiot, but he truly has an eye for beauty," Sanji smiled.

Robin chuckled, "You should tell Zoro that."

Sanji laughed more than he had expected to: "I'd never hear the end of it!"

"But she must have been quite the girl, Pudding. A beautiful and skilled chef, daughter of one of the strongest pirates in the world and a sweetheart too. You must have been tempted."

"Not even for a second," Sanji answered honestly, "I could never leave this crew."

"I guess that's the difference," Robin said lightly and looked out of the window.

"Which is?" Sanji tilted his head, and Robin turned her gaze back to him.

"I didn't realize that I didn't want to leave until after I had left."

"You're lucky then," Sanji smiled, and this time Robin was the confused one.

"I am?" She was still smiling sweetly.

"Yes. You were lucky to have joined us, because there is no escaping this crew."

She chuckled again, "Yes, I'm lucky."

They sat in silence for a while, and Sanji pulled a blanket closer to him. It wasn't really cold, but he greatly preferred to keep warm.

"Do you think it'll happen again," Robin suddenly said, and Sanji looked at her, puzzled, "Do you think someone else will leave or get taken?"

"Maybe..." Sanji wondered, "You're probably a good candidate for a kidnapping victim. There is no way for other pirates to find Raftel without you after all."

"That's funny," Robin said and smiled.

"You consider being kidnapped funny? Robin-chan, there has to be a limit to morbid humour," Sanji said half-jokingly.

"No, I meant the fact that no one can find Raftel without me. People always look at Luffy and say that he can't become the pirate king, yet he's probably closer than anyone else."

Sanji smiled widely, "You're right, that's funny... I don't think anyone will leave though."

"Probably not. It seems rather pointless to even try."

"And no one wants to either," Sanji mused, "I think... I'd rather die than not be here."

"Yes... I think you made that quite clear," Robin said and looked sadly at him for a moment, but it disappeared behind a smile, "But that's the past."

"You're right," Sanji said and gripped his shoulder, "It's the past."

* * *

 **Muhahaha! There is a meaning behind the ending, which will be explained... somewhat, in another chapter.**

 **And I know it was short, but I wanted to keep the story focused on the dialogue :)**

 **As always, if you like the chapter please fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts 3**


	37. The Things We Create

**I don't know why, but when I proofread this, I tried to imitate the voices (I proofread by reading out loud) and I absolutely cracked myself up because there is one character who just pouts a lot xD Either way, on with the story!**

 **Story set: Timeless**

* * *

The things we create

Accidents didn't happen in Sanji's kitchen. They just didn't. At least not if Sanji was in charge of it. But this just meant that when the oven suddenly sparked and made a worrying sound, Sanji let out a surprised scream. A manly scream. He did not at all sound like a little girl who had just seen a mouse run across the wooden floor. Of course Sanji prioritized the food, and had to save what he had just put in the oven, but when he went to open the lid, the oven just sparked again, and Sanji jumped back a bit. Sanji wanted to cry. His oven was angry with him, and he didn't know how to save the food. He went to Franky for help.

It didn't take long to find Franky, because luckily he was just sat on deck with Usopp and Chopper doing something with something. Unfortunately whenever the nerds and Chopper gathered on deck rather than their workstation it meant that there was a danger of something exploding. But that wasn't important, because Sanji feared that his oven would explode first.

"Franky..." Sanji said and tugged at his shirt to get his attention. He was such a child.

"Hm?" Franky turned his attention to the chef and his expression changed when he saw Sanji's face. He could possibly detect his downed mood.

"My oven is angry with me..." Sanji pleaded as if anyone understood what he was talking about.

Now, this possibly needed an explanation, because his oven was an inanimate object and Sanji was a grown ass man. Why would he say stuff like this? Well, it was all Zeff's fault really. Back when Sanji was still a chef in training and the Baratie had first opened, it had only been the head chef and his little eggplant who were working there. And while Sanji was eager to learn about cooking, and he served the food with grace and talked to the customers in a nice manner, he absolutely hated cleaning. And so Zeff had started filling his head with weird stuff. It is no secret that kitchen stuff would often need maintenance. Therefore Zeff told Sanji that if he didn't take care of his tools, they'd get angry with him and they wouldn't let him use them. From that day Sanji had always been extra thorough with his cleaning. And of course the one time he'd consistently forgotten to sharpen his knives and he messed up the cut on a fish, he _had_ cried for a solid hour. Either way, this was all Zeff's fault, because now Sanji was afraid that his oven was permanently mad at him and he couldn't use it anymore.

Apparently Franky decided not to ask Sanji exactly what he meant, and just followed him into the kitchen, where the oven was still sparking and hissing. Franky, being a whole lot tougher than Sanji at the moment, took out the pie Sanji had originally placed inside the oven, and started dissembling the thing. The pie was still fine, but Sanji _did_ need the oven to finish baking it, so that was a problem.

"It was just a loose connection," Franky said after a while. It sounded like he wanted to reassure Sanji that it wasn't actually his fault, but he didn't really succeed.

"Maybe she didn't want me to use her anymore," Sanji said gloomily and Franky looked at him worriedly. But then he sighed like he understood where he was coming from.

"I'll come and do some regular maintenance, but the whole purpose of the oven is to be used. It'd be wasted potential if you never used it, right?"

Sanji looked hopelessly at Franky, then at the oven and then back to Franky: "But she got angry with me..."

"But she's not angry anymore," Franky tried, and turned on the oven to show that it had stopped sparking and making weird noises.

Sanji's face lit up slightly and smiled a little to Franky. He was still holding the pie in his hands and slowly made his way to the oven. He placed the pie inside and set a timer. He was tempted to stare at the pie until it was done baking, but that would delay lunch.

"My teacher always told me," Franky started and Sanji took his eyes off of the oven, "That the things we make are always the happiest when used for good. I might have made this kitchen, but I think the most good that can come from it is having the best chef on the seven seas use it. Don't you think so?"

This time Sanji's face fully lit up and he smiled. Franky gave him a strong pat on the back which almost had Sanji falling over.

"I'm looking forward to lunch, Chef Sanji," And with that he left the kitchen.

* * *

 **Okay, I have some things I want to say, but for those who don't care, please fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts :)**

 **So recently this story has gotten more popular than I ever thought it would. Like I thought five people would read this... honestly, but it just so happens that the people who read this story are such amazing people and I have been so lucky to have some amazing conversations with a lot of you (you know who you are), and I just want to say thank you. This story has literally enabled me to make some new friends (and as a super introvert that says a lot) and I just get so happy when I open my mail and I have a new PM from one of you. Seriously, you guys are awesome and I am so unbelievably happy to know some of you more personally than just a username and a little feedback.**

 **So yeah, I love all of you guys, and if someone out there read this and you are not one of my pen pals, then feel free to write to me. I love having pen pals and it's just nice to geek out with someone new, right? Either way, I just wanted to let you know how happy you all make me :D**


	38. Through the Eyes of Others

**First off: SPOILER WARNING. If you are not caught up to the manga, then don't read this, because 1) It spoils and 2) It won't actually make any sense.**

 **Second: Even if you are caught up, this might still be a little cryptic. Feel free to ask if there is anything that seems weird or cryptic.**

 **Story set: Timeless (But mentions things revealed in Whole Cake Island)**

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Through the Eyes of Others

However unaware Sanji was of it, the love cook of the strawhat pirates shared many traits with his fellow crew mates. It was something he either chose to ignore or something he couldn't get himself to admit, because when Sanji looked at his crew he saw things he could never see in himself. The remaining members of the lovely pirate crew knew though. Sanji was just _that_ amazing.

Just like the captain they sailed under, Sanji was kind by nature. This was a trait that was so painfully obvious to those around him, yet completely invisible to himself. He rarely put himself over others and when it seemed like he did, it was always to conceal that he was actually doing it for others anyway. And it wasn't just that he was kind because he had to be, he just enjoyed it. Sanji was kind because the happiness of others was contagious and _how_ he loved to be the cause of that happiness. And unlike with Luffy where you had to earn his kindness, with Sanji you had to earn his anger. Yes, Sanji was kind by nature, yet he'd often look at his own reflection and see nothing but brutality reflected in his blue eyes and golden locks.

Like the swordsman Sanji so often fought with, he was strong. His bounty wasn't just for show and his strength was no ordinary thing. Behind it lay hard work, determination and, more importantly, creativity. Sanji wasn't only strong because he had a wonderful physique, but because he knew exactly where his strengths resided and he had taken his abilities to levels people could only dream of. He possessed abilities that could easily be mistaken for powers that came from devil fruits, yet one of Sanji's greatest assets was his underwater skills. No one on the crew moved as swiftly under water as the chef, and it was no coincidence that he was often the one who dived into the dangerous sea to save whatever ability user was drowning. Sanji was strong, indeed, but when he looked at his hands he would silently apologize for being too weak.

Sanji's traits didn't even limit themselves to his personality, because like the beautiful navigator, Sanji was handsome as hell. He had a tall lean build, which perfectly matched his dignified way of walking and his flexibly fighting style. He had clear blue eyes and golden hair just long enough to be tied in a ponytail and, if one was lucky, on a humid day, his blonde hair would start forming small curls at the ends. But Sanji always looked his best when he was smiling, it was just a shame he had never seen it himself, because the mirror only seemed to reflect a cruel and mocking smirk.

Sanji was brave, though he always mistook that bravery for recklessness, and he often found himself looking at Usopp and wishing that he could be more like him. Because while Sanji was brave enough to stand his ground against enemies twice his size and much stronger than him, he didn't have the courage to turn his back on the things that hurt him. He just did his best to endure it. It never once occurred to Sanji that he had a voice and opinion, when he was hurting.

However, he always remembered to use his voice when his morals were being tested. Just like Chopper couldn't ignore an injured stranger, Sanji couldn't ignore the starving. Of all the shit Sanji had been through, almost starving to death soon after he had gained a freedom he never even knew existed was the worst thing he had ever experienced. He couldn't even find it in himself to wish that fate on his worst enemy.

Sanji was smart. Always two, three, five steps ahead of everyone. He made sure to do things that would mess things up for their enemies later down the line and when it would be way too late for anyone to fix it. On top of that he was also a fast learner and sometimes Robin wondered how fast he'd learn the ancient language if she sat him down to teach him. She often concluded that he'd learn faster than she had. He had a logical mindset, and a near perfect memory. One only had to look at the amount of recipes he knew to be impressed, because even though he owned many recipe books he very rarely used them for anything other than inspiration. One would also find that the recipe books Sanji hadn't made himself would often contain corrections or comments, because apparently Sanji could take a perfect dish and make it even better. And, unknown to anyone but Sanji, he could fluently speak about seven languages, some of which had gained him information about things he probably shouldn't know of. Yet, for some reason, Sanji was unaware that this was actually something out of the ordinary and he never really shared these talents with anyone.

And Sanji's wit extended even further than knowledge. Just as Franky could instantly determine the potential of whatever scrap was lying about and create something amazing from it, Sanji could look at something complex and determine how it worked and how best to stop it from working. It wasn't a skill which Sanji often used, but _oh_ how it had saved their lives on so many occasions. But all Sanji saw was the way Franky could create and the way he himself could only destroy. It truly was terrifying being inside Sanji's head.

One thing Sanji did love himself for was his cooking abilities. They were his pride and his heart, and he could easily lose himself in it entirely and thus forget all the things he hated himself for. When cooking was involved in any form (it could just be a conversation), Sanji's smile came easily and since he spent most of his waking hours in the kitchen, it had become a rarity to see Sanji in foul mood for no apparent reason. So while Sanji didn't really have many qualities he liked about himself (or just didn't accept existed), the one thing he did like seemed to outshine everything else.

And in all his life, Sanji had never once been in a situation where the side he hated and the side he loved collided. Cooking was such a separate reality that nothing from his past could penetrate the little bubble he created in the kitchen. And so, Sanji never expected that his past could suddenly arise within the bubble.

"You're quite humble, aren't you Sanji-san?" Brook said one morning when him and Sanji were in the kitchen enjoying a cup of tea. There wasn't really much for Sanji to do, since everything was either simmering slowly in a pot or baking in the oven. Therefore Sanji was standing behind the counter, opposite of where Brook was sitting, and just enjoying some morning tea.

"What do you mean by that?" Sanji replied and took a sip of the drink, feeling the soothing liquid warm him up from the inside. There was no better remedy for the cold than freshly brewed tea.

"I just find it strange that someone with royal blood would choose a career in cooking."

Sanji nearly choked on his tea: "How did you...?" Sanji said when he was done coughing.

"I told you, I used to lead a battle convey for a kingdom, and I encountered many people during that part of my life. Most memorable were the Vinsmokes. Strong warriors they were," Brook started and Sanji suspected that he would have closed his eyes had he had the ability to. He was definitely reliving some past memory at the moment, "Dignified, powerful and beautiful. Fair skin, golden hair, crystal blue eyes and, of course, their curly eyebrows. Such a recognizable trade mark. I'll never forget the way they seemed to defeat us without even breaking a sweat. It's a miracle I'm still alive... Even though I'm dead, yohoho~"

Brook must have stopped daydreaming, because he suddenly sounded alarmed as he said Sanji's name.

Sanji had broken and collapsed to his knees. He wasn't even completely sure why he so suddenly felt like a frightened little kid. There was nothing to be scared of. They were just having a conversation. Brook was just telling a story. Yet, because Sanji had always found the kitchen a safe haven, the sudden reminder that his past was not a forgotten memory and that his family who had done nothing but horrible things to him were still out there... that was too much.

"Sanji-san!" Brook was now beside him, "Do you want me to get-"

"No!" Sanji said firmly. He didn't want anyone to see. He didn't want anyone to know. These were his own demons. This was his fight.

Sanji closed his eyes and tried to think of something else. Tried to leave everything behind. He could no longer hear Brook. Whether it was because he had stopped talking or Sanji had completely blocked him out, he couldn't tell. He could feel himself shaking though. His hands, which had been so steady only moments earlier, were shaking so much Sanji gripped his elbows tight, trying to get them under control. But he couldn't. Not really.

Sanji wanted to be strong and brave. He truly did, but he wasn't strong enough to face his past and he wasn't brave enough to walk away from it. So he embraced it. He let it hit him, and accepted that this was the punishment for his cursed blood. This was his punishment for never being good enough.

Eventually Sanji calmed down and came back to reality. Brook was still beside him, and by some miracle, no one had entered in the time that for Sanji had seemed like an eternity.

"I'm sorry," Brook said softly, "I won't mention it again."

But of course Sanji wasn't going to let him take any of the blame: "You didn't know," Sanji said just as softly, "Besides... This is my punishment. I deserve it."

This took Brook aback, "What do you mean _punishment_?" The skeleton tilted his head slightly, "You are such a kind hearted person. You don't deserve to suffer like this."

"Kind...?" Sanji chuckled. It was funny how other people perceived him, "My blood is cursed..."

"We wear our good qualities on our back," Brook said suddenly and put his hands on Sanji's shoulders, as he started lecturing him about life and whatnot, "You are definitely a kind person, Sanji-san, even if you can't see it yourself. Blood? Looks? Abilities? None of that defines us. Only our actions."

Sounds from the deck interrupted their little heart to heart, and Sanji slowly found the strength to stand again. Brook hurriedly started to set the table before Sanji could get the chance to, and let him stay in the kitchen to start the finishing touches on the breakfast.

 _Our actions define us?_ Sanji thought as the strawhats slowly walked through the kitchen door and sat down around the table. _I ran away because I wasn't strong enough to stand up to my family. I can't fight women because I'm not brave enough to let go of my past. I was recognised because I wasn't smart enough to disguise myself._ Sanji slowly put the dishes on the table and watched as his crew dug in. He wish he could be more like them.

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 **I'm very proud of my chapter title for this one. I mean, it wasn't 100% a Sanji POV chapter, but I couldn't really do it any other way.**

 **As always, if you enjoyed reading you can fave, follow for more and leave a little review with your thoughts. All the support is much appreciated :D**


	39. Cinnamon

**Okay, bear with me now, I have a lot of notes. Please read them.**

 **1) There is a Shokugeki no Soma reference in this chapter. I can't really believe I haven't done that before, since it fits so well with the theme of the story.**

 **2) This story is based on the grand total of four requests. You may think: "What? Isn't that a bit lazy?", but the thing is, two of these request just went perfectly together, the third was more of a theme than a story type and that fit as well. The fourth was more an accident than anything else, so yeah. As always, the requests will be included in the end notes to avoid spoiling anyone.**

 **3) You guys _really_ loved last chapter. Thanks for all the lovely support and thanks to all the guest reviewers who praised the last chapter, and can't get a direct thank you from me x**

 **Story set: Timeless**

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Cinnamon

Sanji loves to cook. Truly. It's the best thing he knows of and if he had to choose one thing to do for the rest of his life, cooking would be the choice. But there are times when Sanji would honestly love to spend a day away from the kitchen. It's not like he suddenly hates cooking or gets tired of it, but sometimes Sanji feels like he just hit a wall. He'll be staring at the fridge without knowing what to do with today's breakfast, and he'll just be stuck in the position for much longer than could be considered normal. He'll be trying to decide on a dish, but everything just seems to have disappeared from his mind and though he could probably whip together a decent meal in his sleep, on these days, it is like he isn't even a chef. And it is the worst feeling ever, because Sanji loves his job, but when the fire dies out momentarily, he feels empty.

And yet, Sanji would much rather experience the emptiness than relive the fear that had once been present in his mind and hindered his job.

It had been a normal day, a quiet day actually, and the quiet had not sat well with Luffy. Quiet meant boring, and that was a no-no. So Luffy came to the kitchen, and before Sanji could tell him off for wanting snacks when Sanji had _literally_ just given him some, Luffy declared that he wanted to help prepare dinner. Luffy had helped out a few times before, and as long as Sanji was in the kitchen, he didn't mind Luffy trying a few things out. Luffy usually came to the kitchen when the days were especially hot. Though he didn't have fur like Chopper, it seemed that prolonged heat just didn't do well with him. Sanji suspected that his devil fruit was to blame.

So Sanji let Luffy help. He never let his captain do things like cutting vegetables or season food, because that was relatively boring. No, Sanji was a good crew mate and let Luffy choose what he wanted to put in the dishes (Sanji gave him options of course), he let Luffy taste test (any excuse to eat was Luffy's favorite thing) and mix things together, because there was something innocently fun about stirring a pot.

It was always nice to spend some time with Luffy, because one couldn't help but feel happy in his presence. His easy smile and uplifting laughter was contagious and even if Sanji wasn't having a bad day, he'd still feel immensely happy with his captain. Of course, even in the most peaceful of scenarios, Luffy was a trouble magnet, and while disasters never happened when Sanji was the one in the kitchen, Luffy could easily throw that record out the window.

Luffy made a winching sort of noise and there was a clang when a spatula fell to the floor. Sanji was immediately by Luffy's side to asses the damage. Sanji blamed himself for not having paid attention to what Luffy had been doing, but having suffered multiple of the same injuries, he knew what to do. Even if Sanji's mind was a complete mess at the moment, his body moved by itself and soon Luffy's hand was submersed in cold water. The burn didn't look all too bad, but Sanji knew that it always felt much worse than it looked.

However, after the accident had happened, Luffy didn't look all too concerned. Rather, he was smiling again, and Sanji wondered why.

"Does it hurt?" Sanji asked, still holding Luffy's hand under water.

"Not really," Luffy smiled, "I've tried worse."

Luffy didn't even need to gesture to his scar for Sanji to understand, but this time Luffy's smile didn't reach Sanji. The chef just turned his attention back to the running of the water and completely forgot the food that he was supposed to finish making.

After ten minutes of Luffy just having his hand cooled down, Sanji sent him to Chopper, and looked at the frying pan which had caused the mess to begin with. Luffy had been cooking bacon. A very simple job, but Luffy liked it, because bacon smelled so wonderful when you cooked it and Sanji had made sure to have enough for Luffy to snack on as well. But of course the heating had been turned up just a tad bit too much and Luffy had been a little too close. Accidents happen and no one was really to blame for this one. And no harm had been done. Sanji had dealt with the burn before sending Luffy off to their very experienced and adept doctor. Yeah... no harm had been done to Luffy. Though Sanji's mentality was an entirely different matter.

In all his life, Sanji had very rarely been the cause of a kitchen accident. Even when he had been a novice chef, things had rarely gone wrong, but on the few occasions that it had happened, the one to suffer the consequences had always been Sanji. He had been the one to get a burn or a scar, some of which were still visible on his hands, and that had been fine. Sanji didn't mind getting hurt. But for Sanji, cooking was all about making other people happy, and for the first time in his life, someone had gotten in hurt in his kitchen.

Sanji slowly began putting things aside. He still needed to make dinner, but he didn't really feel like working with heat anymore. He decided to go for sushi. He'd already made the rice, so all he needed to do was cut the fish and make the sushi. Nothing too complicated for an experience chef of the sea. He slowly got to work, and tried not to focus too much on the fact that his hands were slightly unsteady.

No one commented on the change of dinner plans. They just complimented the food. As always. Luffy was happily eating. As always. Sanji did notice the cloth around Luffy's hand, and though the captain wasn't fazed by it in the slightest, it bothered Sanji immensely.

Cleaning was easy. It didn't involve anything dangerous. The warmest thing was the water he washed the dishes in, which had nothing on hot frying oil. Sanji mechanically cleaned the plates, kitchen utensils and whatnot without even thinking. And here's the thing. Sanji wasn't really aware of how much the accident had affected him. It had made him uneasy, yes, but how long could that last? Tomorrow morning Luffy's hand would bear no signs of having been burned and, surely, Sanji would have no problem then.

He was wrong. Forcing himself to make food the next day was painful. He didn't want anyone asking why he was feeling so weird about cooking all of a sudden, because it'd be pretty bad if the chef couldn't make food. So he kept his insecurities to himself and tried his best to act as he usually did. If asked about acting strangely, he'd blame the weather. But it wasn't his hand shaking when he picked up a knife or the hesitation in turning on the stove which had Sanji on the brink of insanity. It was the fact that such a small thing had triggered it. What would have happened if it had been anything else? Something bigger? Something permanent? Would he have broken completely?

Usually when Sanji was feeling any sort of negative emotions, he'd eat. A lot. Stress eating was a good word for it, but being in the kitchen was hard, so now that comfort was gone. Of course that just meant that he went through his cigarette pack all that faster, and Sanji knew that if he kept this up, Chopper would start interfering. He really didn't want that. He knew something was wrong, so he could fix it by himself. No need to involve other people and bother them with his problems.

Sanji went a full week with the situation only getting worse.

At this point being in the kitchen was suffocating. It was no longer the prospect of accidents that had Sanji panicked and anxious, it was the place itself. The heat which had previously been comfortable was now unbearable, the aromas which used to calm him down were sickening, and the sounds of chopping, whisking, boiling, which had all been like music to Sanji's ear were now like nails on a chalkboard. It was horrifying. And with the kitchen now being a living hell, Sanji had nowhere to run to.

Without his safe haven, Sanji's world was cold and bleak. Even on a hot day without a single cloud in the sky, Sanji would feel cold and he'd be reminded of the North. He slowly started eating less, and even when he _was_ cooking, it was like it took all of his energy. For some reason he had to put more strength into cutting, kneading, stirring for anything to happen. By the end of the day Sanji would be so visibly worn out that someone, more often than not: Usopp, would offer to clean after dinner, and Sanji would collapse in his bed. Until one day he didn't make to his bed, he just collapsed in the kitchen.

Unlike when he'd been ill, he wasn't even conscious enough for him to hear as people hurriedly ran to his side. This time he was out cold before he even hit the floor. Yet Sanji was weirdly self aware. He knew that he was sleeping, but it was like a conscious sort of sleep where he could control his own actions and critically observe what was happening around him.

Sanji was back in the Baratie. The old Baratie he realized. This was back when it had only been him and the old geezer. Back then they were only open four days a week, because Zeff didn't want to put too much strain on Sanji... and of course he was still a trainee so all free days were spend practising and learning. It wasn't all cooking either. Zeff also taught Sanji how to fight, because the way Sanji had been fighting before hadn't been right. Not for a chef, because a chef should never use their hands to fight with. And right now, Sanji was observing as Zeff was teaching a young Sanji how to fight. It was only the two of them, and a lone waiter whom Sanji remembered had worked with them for a months time before he'd tried to kill Zeff and collect his still existent bounty. Of course, all these bounty hunters who tried this would get mercilessly beaten by the head chef and eventually the people who tried to kill or capture him were non-existent.

"Put you back into it, you lil' eggplant," Zeff said sternly, and put a hand on Sanji's back to straighten him up, "Your power doesn't only come from your legs, but from your entire body."

With Zeff supporting him, little Sanji repeated his previous actions, but this time the balance and force was much improved. Zeff ruffled his hair and asked him to do it one more time with him supporting so that he could get the feel of it before trying by himself again. Little Sanji smiled and repeated the action. Zeff then let go and little Sanji tried again. This time his balance was a little off, but on the third try he had mastered the move.

Zeff then send little Sanji off to the fridge and had him decide what they should have for lunch.

"He's a talented one," the waiter mused as he watched little Sanji run to the kitchen, and excitedly pick some things out.

"He is," Zeff agreed and looked kindly at little Sanji, something the current Sanji felt like he had taken for granted sometimes, "but it's like there is something holding him back. Like he's not trusting his own power."

"What do you mean?" The waiter asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"When he's cooking, he's very confident even though he's far from good at it. I'd even go as far as say that the only reason he is as good as he is, is because of sheer determination. However, when it comes to fighting, it's like he's constantly expecting to do wrong. To not do good enough. Which is ridiculous. I've never seen a kid with this much talent for fighting." Zeff's expression turned into that of concern, still keeping his eyes on his lil' eggplant.

The conversation never continued as little Sanji came back with a chopping board filled with the ingredients for a quiche.

The scene changed, and little dream Sanji was about a year older. This time he was sat on a chair, crying and Zeff was kneeling before him tending to his bleeding hand.

"You stupid eggplant. I taught you how to handle a knife, did I not?"

Little Sanji nodded, and tried to stop crying. When Zeff was done bandaging his hand, he ruffled his hair, something which the current Sanji now found that Zeff had done a lot when he'd been younger, and went to the spice cupboard. He came back with a cinnamon stick and gave it to little Sanji.

"Did you know that the smell of cinnamon makes you happy?" Zeff asked and little Sanji shook his head, "Take this and carry it with you until you feel better." Little Sanji took the cinnamon, and the current Sanji remembered never giving it back.

Sanji awoke in the Sick Bay. It was night, and while Chopper was in the room with him, he was fast asleep. Sanji slowly sat up and tried to clear his head of everything that had happened the past week and just focus on the Baratie. He tried to focus on everything that Zeff had taught him, everything that Zeff had given him, but it was like the memories were slowly slipping away from him. Sanji glanced at the door that separated the Sick Bay and the kitchen. He didn't know if he could do it, but he had to take the chance. Worst case scenario; he'd just faint again.

With the lights out and Sanji having no plans of actually cooking anything, it wasn't all that bad to be in the kitchen. Sanji still felt himself hesitating a bit when he walked over to the cupboard, but it wasn't anything like before. Sanji slowly looked through his spice cupboard before he found the small bag of cinnamon sticks and took one out. And as if a magic spell had been put on him, the moment the scent of cinnamon reached Sanji's nose, he relaxed.

It was like Sanji was suddenly reminded of why he loved cooking in the first place. It wasn't about making feel good and happy. It was about making them feel good and happy _despite_ anything else. If you were having a good day, Sanji's food would make it even better, and if you were having a bad day, then the food would lift your spirits. Accidents happened. Whether that be inside the kitchen or outside, it didn't matter. In the end, when everyone was sat down and enjoying Sanji's food, weren't everyone happy then?

Sanji remembered well that every time he'd cut himself, burned himself, injured himself, Zeff would make him a meal, and he'd instantly feel better. And Sanji remembered that that was the kind of chef he'd wanted to become. Without putting the cinnamon away Sanji got changed into the chef outfit he had kept from the Baratie, and though it was the middle of the night, Sanji started cooking.

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 **The requests (paraphrased)**

 **cooking-ninja18: _A whump chapter -_ Since I went with the both physical and psychological whumpness last time, I decided to keep it solely in Sanij's head this time, since I'm much better at that.**

 **Guest: _Zeff throwback_ \- I kind of did this two chapters ago, but this is better, right?**

 **Kinomohi Tsuki: _Luffy is helping Sanji cook, and after an accident he gets burned but isn't fazed by it because he's had worse_ \- I'll probably come back to something like this again**

 **meladi1: _After an accident in the kitchen, Sanji becomes hesitant, uneasy, and maybe a little afraid to do what he loves most: cooking -_ This was basically the core of the chapter.**

 **As always, if you enjoyed reading then please fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts :D**


	40. Where the Heart Lies

**Sorry about the late update. Basically my brother sneezed on me (literally what happened) and I was down with a cold for five days. Also, sorry if you are following Sun Kissed and are wondering why the hell I haven't uploading in forever. I should have a chapter and an explanation ready for Friday.**

 **Either way, let me just say this about the chapter: Read it slowly for the full experience. I have a very clear idea with this, which I will explain in the end notes, but for now; Enjoy!**

 **Story set: Could be timeless, but makes most sense if it's after Whole Cake Island (no spoilers though)**

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Where the heart lies

He keeps his eyes closed.

The surface is soft. Almost as soft as the blanket someone has covered him with. The light blowing of the wind ruffles his hair and tickles his forehead, but it's pleasant. It feels almost like soft kisses telling you to stop worrying about everything. The sun is still shining. It's probably not as high on the sky as it was when he fell asleep, but they were still a few hours from sunset. The light dances on his face, but his hair keeps his eyes in the shadows. The warmth is comforting. He can feel the ship rock back and forth, balancing itself on the rowdy ocean, but he feels safe. The ocean can't scare him.

He can hear it as well. He can hear the waves lightly collide with the side of their ship and fall back into the ocean. He can hear when the wind blows into the sails and flags, proudly showing where their hearts lie. He can hear scattered voices around him. No one talking to him. Rather, the voices are hushed, trying to not wake him. Their conversation has no topic. A small comment about the weather, something about food and a remark about adventure. No hidden intent lies beneath each word. It's all so genuine, and he almost thinks that their voices could lull him back to sleep.

Somewhere in the distance, someone is tuning a violin, humming a familiar song silently. Somewhere else, someone is watering their flower garden, while having a quiet conversation with someone who seems to be trotting back and forth from garden to cabin. Not too far from him someone is lifting heavy objects which every so often will hit the ground with a satisfying sound which reminds him of the tune a bell makes.

The objects fill the air with a light smell of iron, but combined with the salty ocean, and the scent of flowers and medicinal herbs, the smell is so oddly human. Soon enough, the scent is replaced by something else, and he can easily make out the spices used in the kitchen: Turmeric, star anise and fennel. Commonly used in medicinal cooking. Mostly found in recipes with origins in the East. Works well with light meat and sweet vegetables. He can practically taste the dish being prepared, and for a moment feels a slight urge to help out. But he decides against it. He'd rather stay here.

He feels the ship make a light turn, and hears the voice of his savior exclaim something as the sun now shines on his closed eyelids. Hurried footsteps come closer and before long something is placed on his head. And just as the footsteps turn around to go back to wherever he was, he takes a peek at his back. He would never leave. He never could. He would forever stay here, feeling safe, knowing that even facing his own fears and insecurities, that back would still be there to protect him and pull him along. Never leaving him behind. Never taking him for granted. Never hurting him.

Sanji smiles.

* * *

 **Okay, so the idea for this chapter was to write what happiness and safety feels like to Sanji. I tried to keep the sole focus on the things which defines him and what he likes: the ocean, his friends, cooking, etc. I don't know how well I succeeded, but as always, fave if you like it, follow for more and leave a review with you thoughts :)**


	41. When the Heart Lies

**Contains SPOILERS for anyone not caught up to the MANGA! Also please read my end notes for insight :)**

 **This is another chapter which should be read slowly :)**

 **Story set: Whole Cake Island arc (Specifically chapter 843)**

* * *

When the heart lies

He stares straight ahead.

He keeps his gaze focused on the seat in front of him, never letting his eyes turn to the people beside him or the people in front of him. If he did, he'd just feel even more trapped. The grey before him is slowly making him go insane, but he can't close his eyes. No, that's even more dangerous. Closing his eyes would allow his mind to wander off to places he'd rather be. He can't allow that. He'll just keep his eyes focused on the monotone void before him.

The ride is quite smooth at first, but the closer they get to their destination, the more unstable it gets. It's not really unpleasant, but he can feel each knick in the road. Each hole and stone they pass, and sometimes it gets hard to keep looking straight ahead. He feels more and more tempted to close his eyes.

His clothes are suffocating him and he tries hard to keep his breathing steady. The clothes cling to him in the most unnatural way and he wants nothing more than to adjust or shred it completely. The shoes are chaffing, the trousers restricting, the shirt burning and ice cold at the same time, and the cloak pinned to his shoulder is like a chain around his neck. Yet none of that can compare to the shackles on his wrists. They are biting his skin, and though he knows it's not true, they seem to get tighter as time goes by. If he starts focusing on them he can practically hear them go off, and they start burning, start eating away at his sanity. He ignores it by staring at the grey surface in front of him.

The air is filled with confusing scents. There is the smell of perfume lingering in the carriage, but the gunpowder seems to almost dominate and erase it completely. And then there is that sickening sweet scent, giving the illusion that everything is rainbows and sunshine, and it makes him sick to the core. He suspects that if the smell gets any more intense he might just throw up.

The only thing he is thankful for is the silence. Whether it's because there are no sounds or because he blocks them out, he would never know, but it's nice. He doesn't want to hear their voices. He would take nails on a chalkboard any day over their voices. Every word they utter is poison and there is a limit to how much he can take before he can no longer fight. Despite how useless and weak he feels, he still wants to fight. But he can't. He knows that. For every ounce of freedom he gains, someone else loses theirs.

And then the silence is broken.

Someone shouts and the voice is so loud and panicked that even he cannot ignore it. For a brief moment he averts his eyes and sees what he both longs for and hoped he'd never see. And the smile is bright, the voice loud, the eyes shine like the sun itself, and the strawhat has never before had him this close to tears. He wants to reach out to him, but he doesn't. He talks to him, but the words are lost somewhere between them as he realizes what he must do.

And his heart aches. He wants to go back, he wants to take his hand and hear him say that everything is okay. Tell him that he's safe and home and no one will ever be able to harm him again. But he can't. He buries his heart beneath everything. Beneath his insecurities and fears. Beneath his lies and regrets. Beneath his pain and tears. And he watches as that bright smile disappears and is replaced by disbelief. He gets closer, and the disbelief turns to anger. Whether or not that anger is directed towards him he can't figure out, but he hopes it is. He deserves it.

He stands before him, and knowing that no one else can see him, he hopes his plead gets across. In that moment it is just the two of them, and he tries his hardest to keep the tears from falling and his expression from softening as Sanji silently screams.

 _Please save me._

* * *

 **So, as you probably guessed, this chapter is the complete opposite of last week's. When the new chapter came out I just couldn't hold myself back, because if last week was happiness and safety, this is definitely _not._ Also, reading the previous chapter and this one back to back might even give a pretty strong impact :)**

 **As always, if you enjoyed then please fave, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts :)**


	42. It's All in Your Head

**PLEASE READ!**

 **Um... This chapter is very VERY abstract. So abstract in fact that I might post a bonus chapter this week just because I feel like this makes no sense to anyone but me... I mean it might, but it's just SO weird. Please feel free to ask about anything you don't get...**

 **Story set: After Whole Cake Island**

* * *

It's all in your head

It's dark. No matter where Sanji turns, it is dark. He sees his hands, clearly, but nothing else. He starts walking, trying to find a way out, but the darkness continues. It is silent as well, and hears only the sound of his own footsteps. His pace quickens and soon he is running. He wants to get out, but the darkness continues, and he begins losing hope. His running comes to a halt and the silence takes over once again. He accepts that there is no way out and he contemplates just standing there or breaking down, just to get it over with. Yet, he doesn't feel a pressing fear coming from the darkness. He's calm. Lost and hopeless, but calm. The darkness doesn't scare him. It doesn't comfort him either. It's just there. It's always been there, and even though he'd prefer the light, he'd always carry that darkness with him. It is a part of him.

And then suddenly, there is light. A bright and blinding light. It illuminates everything and the darkness is no more, but now Sanji is scared. This is no warm light. This is cold. As his eyes adjust to the sudden change, he can see what surrounds him. Bars. He looks up. There seems to be no end to them. He looks down, and again they seem to continue endlessly. He sees his reflection in the blank surface he walks upon, but he doesn't recognise the eyes looking back at him. He kneels. Tries to get closer to this stranger that has replaced him. He places a hand on the surface and shivers as the cold makes its way through his body. The reflection is crying, but Sanji feels no tears on his face and turns away from the stranger frozen in ice.

He walks closer to the bars and reaches for them, but stops just before his hand makes contact. He's not sure what made him stop. He doesn't understand this feeling. It's not fear, but it's far from courage. He forces himself to continue and when he touches the bars... nothing happens. Sanji feels as his heart slowly goes back to a normal pace. He didn't even know how fast it had been beating until he finally relaxed. His hand grips the iron bars. Could he break them if tried? He lets go, makes a quick spin to build up speed and strength, and kicks the bars. And once again, nothing happens. He takes a step backwards and repeats his actions, but to no avail. The bars won't budge and the sound of iron meeting his foot is slowly getting on his nerves. He stops.

Sanji turns around, but nothing new has appeared. It now occurs to him that he doesn't know where he is nor how he ended up here. In the end, he concludes that he must be dreaming. He pinches his cheek, but feels nothing. He tries again, a little harder, but apparently pinching your cheek to wake yourself up is a myth because it clearly isn't working.

He starts walking again, but he doesn't get far. As if the surface suddenly melts away, Sanji now falls. He can no longer breathe. It doesn't seem like he's surrounded by water, but when he inhales his vision blurs and his lungs feel heavy. In the back of his mind, he knows that this is not real, but when the darkness swallows the light, he grows scared. And then he hits the bottom.

He feels his lungs eject whatever air was left in him, but as he inhales again, he finally succeeds. He doesn't move for a long time, and just enjoys the feeling of breathing. The light is slowly returning, but Sanji misses the nothingness which the darkness brings. The light is no friend of his, and, at the very least, he can hide in the dark. Sanji really wants to wake up now, but as he tries to remember why, his memory fails him. If he were to wake up, where would he be? He doesn't remember.

Once again the silence is broken, but this time not by Sanji. He tries to get up to see what is making that strange ticking noise, but he finds that his hands and feet are bound to the surface. He struggles for awhile, but reminds himself that this is all a dream and just accepts his fate. The noises grow louder, and Sanji closes his eyes in an attempt to shut everything out. And then he feels the pain. He can't locate it, but it hurts. It hurts so bad, and Sanji screams and screams.

It's like his insides are burning up, and like a thousand knives are cutting him open. He feels as hands reach inside his open torso and moves everything inside him around, before putting them back in place. His screams are louder than the weird ticking noise now, but it almost sounds like someone is saying his name. Somewhere far far away, a voice is calling.

Eventually the pain stops and the restraints are no longer there. Sanji doesn't know whether he should move or stay, but he gathers the energy and willpower to roll onto his side, just to see if anything has changed. It has. He is confronted by another reflection, but this time, one he recognises. There is the blonde hair which covers the right eye, and the blue eyes that stare into nothing. The white shirt with his number is stained and old, and his fair skin is covered in bruises and dirt. Sanji continues to watch his reflected childhood as it slowly starts to change. The small boy on the other side of the mirror starts growing thinner, and Sanji's breath quickens again. When the boy is nothing but skin and bones, and the life is almost gone from his eyes, Sanji almost throws up. Tears are forming and escaping his eyes, and he does nothing to stop them. He tries to turn away from the reflection, but he can't. He can only stare into those lost blue eyes.

And then the darkness returns. Sanji can no longer see anything, and he finds comfort in the shadows surrounding him. Until he starts listening. He can hear footsteps all around him. Light footsteps running around. It sounds like children playing. They are laughing, having fun, but Sanji recognises this sound. He would never forget. He has heard these laughs so many times, and this was the one thing he never got used to. Pain could be dealt with. Disappointment could be dealt with. Sadness could be dealt with. But laughter? Never. Sanji curls up into himself and wishes that this nightmare would end, and when it does, he wishes he'd wake up somewhere warm. Somewhere far away from those laughs.

He hears his name again. They are taunting him, as they slowly close in on him. He can feel the vibrations of the movements in the surface and he wants them gone. He wants them to leave him alone in this darkness.

The call of his name gets louder and louder, and suddenly the darkness breaks.

There is an oil lamp not too far from him. It brightens the entire room and engulfs it in a warm orange shade. Sanji can feel the sweat on his face and body, and his clothes are clinging to him as if he'd just jumped into the ocean. He tries to control his breathing, but he can't find it in him to relax until someone takes his hand, and he suddenly feels at peace. Big eyes stare at him, kindly, and Sanji looks at him for a moment before he lets his head fall on Luffy's shoulder. He feels a hand going through his hair and the soft touch erases all the fears he didn't know he had.

They stay like this for a long time, and Sanji doesn't want it to end. He is crying again, but Luffy must be pretty used to it by now. He's been crying a lot lately.

Sanji apologizes and feels as the soothing hand comes to a stop. For a moment, he fears rejection, because once again, he's not strong enough.

"Don't. It's not your fault," Luffy's voice is soft, softer than Sanji has ever heard it before, "I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."

And Sanji finally lets go and embraces his captain with everything he is.

* * *

 **Sooo... Did you get it? Yes? No? Feel free to ask questions...**


	43. Not So Ordinary After All (pt1)

**First off, I'm really sorry that this is so late, but while I did have a chapter ready for Tuesday, I'm still not completely satisfied with it, and decided to write a new chapter for this week instead.**

 **Secondly, this is another two parter, so next chapter will continue this one (It's been a while since I've done a story driven chapter...)**

 **Lastly, I don't know if I should put a spoiler alert on this... Personally I think it's good, but let me know if you think it spoils anything...**

 **Story set: Timeless**

* * *

Not so ordinary after all (pt.1)

Sanji was listening. At first it hadn't been intentional, but as he slowly understood what they were talking about he was glad he'd caught their conversation. At first Sanji hadn't picked up on the importance of the conversation, simply because he thought that there was no way anyone would be stupid enough to have a conversation like that in a public place. But then Sanji realized. They weren't speaking in the common tongue. Sanji was surprised that he hadn't noticed before, because the language was quite different from the common one. But even after years of not using it, Sanji could still perfectly understand.

Sanji dared not look too much in their direction so he settled for only listening. There were eight of them; three women and five men. It seemed that only one woman could speak the language fluently, leading Sanji to believe that she was either their boss or their client. She was the one explaining their job, so it could be either really. As the others spoke Sanji picked up on every broken sentence and mispronounced word, trying to figure out who they were. After listening for a while he decided that they must be business people. People who only knew enough of the language to communicate with a client and nothing more.

Sanji felt someone shift besides him, but ignored it. There was a good possibility that these people could pose a serious threat. Sanji took a look at them as a waitress approached them. They seemed to be placing some orders, which meant that they'd stay for a little while longer at the very least. Sanji wanted to hear more. He quickly looked away as the woman in charge turned her head in his direction. They continued talking.

"Sanji-kun..." Nami's voice came from somewhere in the room, and Sanji turned to look at her, not knowing what she wanted, "Are you even listening?"

"Huh?" Sanji answered intelligently and she face palmed, making Usopp explain to him what was going on.

"Nami said that the island will change seasons soon, and we should leave before it does. Do you have all the supplies you need?"

"Um, yeah, I have everything..." Sanji said automatically, but then reconsidered, "Actually, I still have a few things I want to buy, so I'll go into town later today."

"Alright..." Usopp said sceptically, but apparently decided not to pry into it.

Sanji went back to listening. He must have missed something, because they had changed subject. He hoped it wasn't important, but shot them another quick glance just to make sure nothing had changed. How strange. The woman in charge was gone. Maybe she _was_ their client and she had finished explaining what she wanted them to do. However, not five seconds later, Sanji's attention was caught when someone arrived at the table. It seemed the woman hadn't left after all.

"Hello~" She said and all the strawhats' attention was instantly on her, "You're not from around here, are you?" She spoke the common tongue, but her accent was thick giving Sanji the impression that she was either faking it or exaggerating it.

"No, we're just stopping by," Nami smiled. Her guard was up, but there was no hint of suspicion in her voice, "Why?"

"Ah~" The woman sang and leaned over the table. She was a little too close to Luffy in Sanji's mind, but if she was dangerous, Sanji did not doubt that his captain would pick up on it. Looking closer she was quite pretty, but Sanji found it hard to focus on that, "My friends and I were stopping by as well, and we were wondering if you knew what the next summer island was? You see, I'm not too fond of winter."

"The previous island was a summer island, was it not?" Robin said, looking to Nami who agreed with her and gave her the name of the island.

"Thank you very much~" The woman clapped her hands, and returned to her table.

After that their conversation turned trivial and Sanji knew there was nothing more to come for. Nami was paying the bill anyway, so they'd be leaving soon.

Sanji sighed and looked to his friends. None of them seemed to bothered by the woman, but then again, they hadn't heard the conversation. As Sanji eyes scanned the table his gaze met Zoro's. The swordsman was very quick to pick up on Sanji's expression and lifted an eyebrow in question. Sanji brushed it off. If he needed help, he would let someone know... and that someone would not be Zoro. The swordsman mimicked him and sighed. Sanji didn't know whether that meant _fine I don't care_ or _whatever I trust you._ As much as Sanji would hope it was the latter, he had a weird feeling it was the first.

The strawhats slowly made their way back to the Sunny. The mood was light, and they walked slowly, sometimes stopping if they went past something particularly interesting. When they finally got back to their ship everyone had their hands full of different things. Most carried food, a few carried weapons or general supplies. Robin and Chopper had stumbled upon a small book store, and with all the purchases, Sanji was surprised to see that Nami was still as happy as she had been this morning.

After Sanji had stored all the food, he stepped out of the kitchen and looked at the sky. It wouldn't be too long until the sun set and he quite wanted to leave before it did. Anything else would seem suspicious. He had prepared dinner early and he was sure the crew could fend for themselves should he leave for a few hours. He quickly let them know that he was going back to town to get some last minute supplies and left the ship.

The town was still lively, and Sanji quite enjoyed just walking amongst all people going about their daily life. He did stop once or twice at some food stances, but he never bought anything. He wasn't really out for shopping. If he remembered correctly, he shouldn't be too far from the place, and when he started seeing less people, he figured he was right. When Sanji reached the edge of the town he tried to keep to alleys and rooftops. The last thing he needed was to be spotted.

Sanji watched from a rooftop as the sun set. He could see the Sunny in the distance and he smiled to himself. He didn't do this a lot, and it wasn't a complete secret either. Both Zoro and Robin had caught and confronted him once about it, but even after that they never tried to stop him. Sanji was sure that a few others, if not every single one of them knew he did this, but it wasn't something they talked about. Simply because pretty much everyone once or twice had snuck off to deal with a threat that only they had been aware of, and while Sanji just happened to be the person to deal with most of those threats, it was okay. Sanji wasn't exactly underestimating his friends nor overestimating himself. He had asked for help twice. Once from Usopp and once from Robin. The reason he always did this alone was mostly to not worry the others, but also because he knew that bringing all the strawhats into minor conflicts could easily go out of hand.

The strawhats liked big fights. They were exciting, and people would never forget them, but sometimes big fights weren't needed. Sometimes you just needed a bit of discreet meddling, and the threat was eliminated. Sanji was the perfect person to do this. He was strong and could stand his own, but unlike their idiot captain and their idiot swordsman, Sanji had a brain. Besides, Sanji got a weird feeling of satisfaction when he could outsmart and win against his enemies without engaging in a physical fight. It was like a fun game. Of course, it didn't always work out that way, but Sanji had never even been injured in a solo-mission.

He didn't let any of that get to his head though. He knew that he was dealing with different people each time and there really was no telling how smart they were. Sanji was actually a little on edge with this particular group. They'd been smart enough to talk about their plans in a language which was understood by almost no one, and even then Sanji knew that he didn't know everything... Though he really doubted that they knew he'd been listening.

Sanji was currently observing a warehouse. What was inside it, he didn't know, and he honestly didn't really care. What he did care about were the people who were now slowly approaching said warehouse. The woman who had approached them earlier was with them, so Sanji ended up settling for her being the boss. They all entered the warehouse, and Sanji slowly followed. He jumped to the roof of the house, landed silently and slipped in through a ceiling window. As luck would have it, the ceiling consisted mostly of metal bars nicely hidden in shadows, which gave Sanji free mobility as long as he could remain silent.

The warehouse was completely full. If these boxes were stacked any higher they might just have crushed the boxes on bottom unless they all contained nothing but rocks. One of the guys in their party made a quiet _wow_ sound, while a girl in the back rolled her eyes at him. The two of them were definitely the youngest in the group, probably around sixteen, which gave Sanji a reason to believe that they were either new recruits who posed zero threat or people with powerful abilities who posed the greatest threat.

"Let's get to work," Their boss commanded, this time speaking in the common tongue. Her accent wasn't nearly as thick as it had been back in the restaurant, but it was still slightly present in her words. The young boy from before moved forward and touched one of the boxes and... it disappeared? Sanji's eyes widened. What? One of the guys was holding a big bag and it looked like the boy put something inside it. The boy then touched another box, but this time Sanji saw what happened. The box didn't disappear, it just shrunk. Well, that answered a few questions.

When about half of the contents of the warehouse had been shrunk and put into the bag, the boss signalled to the people who were not on watch to do something. The young girl moved to the wall and started spray painting it. It looked like she was painting a skull... The rest of them seemed to be spreading some sort of dust all over the place, while their boss was standing over them, telling them whenever they did something wrong.

"Um, miss?" One of the dust spreaders slowly asked, and she looked to him, giving him permission to speak, "What does this do again?"

"It will lead the government away from us," she answered. She seemed quite level headed and not the type to yell or get annoyed at her probably below average intelligent subordinates, "This dust is connected to my ability. It will lead the government away from us and directly to the strawhats." _Ah, there is was, the reason Sanji needed to deal with these people._

Her subordinate seemed to be satisfied with the answer, and while Sanji wanted to know more about how exactly it worked, it didn't take him long to figure out that it wasn't coincidence that she had been standing that close to Luffy earlier. Sanji was willing to bet his life that she had done something back then. Well, nothing to do about that now. Sanji needed to find a way for the strawhats not to become a sudden target. The government didn't like them to begin with. They were pirates and they had done a lot of things to piss of the government, but Sanji quite liked when the marines didn't know where they were. Not even the strawhats would survive long if they were pursued constantly, and Sanji had a feeling that the woman's ability might make that happen.

Sanji then shot a glance at the girl who was painting and wasn't surprised when it looked like she was painting _their_ jolly roger. These people were trying a little bit too hard to frame them for whatever crime they were committing. Now, Sanji had a choice. Did he want to let them get away with what they were doing and then just make sure that the government couldn't track them by removing whatever the hell the dust was and clean the walls. Or did he want to stop them from committing a crime, so that the government wouldn't _have_ to track anyone down. The first one was tempting, but Sanji didn't know what half of these people were capable of and with three women, one of which was probably extremely strong, Sanji didn't want to engage in a fight.

"Just tell me if you need any help," a low voice came from Sanji's left, and he almost jumped from surprise.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sanji hissed, trying his best not to raise his voice.

"Nothing in particular," Zoro said casually and looked at the people working beneath them, "but if it comes down to a fight you'll be happy I'm here." Zoro gave Sanji a sly smile, and Sanji would have kicked him if they wouldn't have been found out.

"I can handle this myself," Sanji said and turned away from the swordsman, "Why did you even come?"

"Luffy sent me," Zoro answered and Sanji immediately looked back to him again.

"Really?" Sanji could hardly believe that Luffy wouldn't trust Sanji with something like this. Enjoying Sanji's distressed expression, Zoro waited a little too long to explain what he had meant.

"He just wanted you to buy more food. Nami said the voyage will be long, so we need more supplies than usual."

"Oh..." Sanji said silently, and went back to watching the group of people beneath them. There were almost no boxes left, so Sanji had to start acting soon if he wanted to do something more than just erase proof.

Sanji sighed. He knew he wouldn't feel right if he just let these people get away with this. He felt like it'd be an insult to Luffy. Sanji looked to Zoro again, though the swordsman had his gaze on the thieves. He then noticed that Zoro was only carrying his white sword, which probably meant that even Zoro wasn't in the mood to start a big spectacular fight.

Sanji was a bit disappointed that it all ended up in a fight, but he wasn't really in the mood to start erasing the trails that would lead anyone to their crew and then replace them with things that would lead them to the actual culprits instead. It seemed like a waste of time, especially if Sanji wouldn't even be there to witness as they got hunted down. He signalled to Zoro and they emerged from their hiding spot.

The fight was pretty short, and not really all that taxing either. The youngest two didn't even join the battle, and when Zoro had dealt with the women (gently as Sanji had kept on yelling at him), he had just sat back and watched as Sanji took out the rest. Sanji had gotten quite annoyed with the swordsman at that point and kicked a guy in his direction when he saw him yawn.

When they'd finished up, they tied them all up, left and locked the warehouse. Sanji made sure to keep a close eye on Zoro in case he should wander off and be lost the entire night. While Sanji didn't really care that much, Luffy probably did, and Sanji personally did not want to go on a midnight marimo hunt, when he could just keep an eye on him. They made it to the main street in time to buy the extra supplies before the shops closed and they were now a ten minute walk from the Sunny.

"Say..." Zoro said suddenly not looking at Sanji.

"Hmm?"

"Are you hiding something from us?" Zoro continued walking, but Sanji had stopped dead in his tracks.

"What do you mean?" Sanji asked, slightly confused.

"Those people... How did you know what they would do, where they would be?"

"I just overheard their conversation," Sanji said and began walking again, but this time Zoro didn't follow.

"In a different language? That's not something you _just_ do."

"And how would an idiot like you know?" Sanji snapped. He wasn't sure why he was angry, but he suspected it was because it was Zoro he was having a conversation with.

Zoro sighed, and continued walking. Neither of them said anything for a while.

"I don't really care..." Zoro said again, and Sanji wasn't even sure what he referring to, "and I know Luffy doesn't really care either, but you shouldn't hide too many secrets from us."

"Huh?" Sanji exclaimed, confused.

Zoro stopped and looked at Sanji who was beyond confused. Sure, he had secrets, but they were mainly connected to his past which hadn't even remotely been an issue in his currently life for a long long time.

And then Zoro's eye slightly widened as it looked like he realized something incredible, "You don't even know, do you?"

Sanji was sure that he was looking like a pure question mark at this point, but then something rare happened: Zoro started laughing. It wasn't the short mocking laugh Zoro made when he was teasing him, but a genuine laugh which Sanji found he really enjoyed. Possibly because he generally just liked people laughing out of happiness, but mostly because Zoro rarely laughed.

"Care telling me what's so funny?" Sanji asked after a while, and watched as Zoro slowly stopped laughing.

"Nah, I don't want to give you the satisfaction," Zoro said and this time smiled a victorious smile in Sanji's direction before he started walking again.

"Oi!" Sanji yelled and aimed a kick at the swordsman who dodged effortlessly like he had done so many times. Sanji would have started a fight right then and there if it had not been for Luffy's voice calling their names in the distance. They fight would have to wait.

* * *

 **So not only will this be a two parter, but I want to do a side story, which will more or less be this chapter from Zoro's point of view instead. The story will probably start before the beginning of this chapter and also end after the ending of the next chapter, so it WILL be different and provide new information :)**

 **As always, fave if you enjoyed reading, follow for more and leave a review with your thoughts :D**


	44. First Snow

**Please read:**

 **Another apology for a late chapter. Basically I hit a massive writer's block before I could probably finish part two of _Not so ordinary after all_ and while I could probably whip the ending together, I don't want the chapter to be less of what I can make it, so please bear with me. Now, luckily before I hit this stupid writer's block I wrote this chapter, and while posting it now is going to completely mess up the order of the story, I felt really bad not posting anything for two weeks, so here you go.**

 **On the topic of not posting, I'm going to pull an Oda. Basically I'm gonna take a break every month, because school is stressful by the end of the semester and I really want to pass all my courses. Now, I don't want my breaks to collide with Oda's, so for now I'm thinking of taking the first Tuesday of every month off. I might have to change it around slightly if I have interfering exams and I can't pre-write chapters, but in that case I'll let you know.**

 **Either way I hope you'll enjoy this chapter even if it doesn't follow up from the previous one. Also, SPOILERS if you're not caught up to the manga.**

 **Story set: After Whole Cake Island**

* * *

First Snow

Sanji preferred summer. He liked the feeling of the sun on his skin and the way it gently warmed him up. It was the same reason he enjoyed tea. The feeling of being slowly warmed up from the inside out was soothing and could always put Sanji's mind at ease. He also preferred summer because of the colours. The sun brought everything to life with its warmth and light. Flowers bloomed, fresh green leaves sprouted forth and animals were no rare sight, and the light of the summer sun illuminated everything. It made everything seem more lively, more beautiful. Yes, Sanji preferred summer.

For a long time he couldn't stand the winter. Couldn't stand its bleak colours and lack of warmth. Couldn't stand how the cold made him feel numb and seemed to be draining his energy. He didn't like how the days were shorter and the dark nights longer. In the East, winters would never be as cold or as long as they had been in the North, but Sanji still resented them. On particular cold nights Sanji would stay in the Baratie's kitchen until the sun eventually rose again. He'd enjoy the blue flames coming from the stove, and he'd surround himself with candles and oil lamps that gave that soothing orange glow. And slowly but surely, Sanji got used to the winter and everything it brought. He still found it hard to enjoy, but at least his hands no longer went numb and his throat didn't feel tight.

When Sanji started travelling on the Grand Line, he wasn't sure what to expect. He'd heard stories from Zeff, and he knew that seasons changed rapidly on that dangerous sea. The strawhats got to experience this as soon as they had left the twin capes. But when the snow was falling hard, Sanji didn't even have to time register it, because not ten minutes later the sun was baking them. And when they eventually docked on a Winter Island, Sanji was too worried about his ill crew mate to really care about the snow. However, as the crew left the island under the cherry blossom snow, Sanji smiled at the beautiful sight before him.

His two years were spent on Momoiro Island: A summer island where winter only meant that the ever pink leaves on the trees would lose their brightness for a few months, but then revert to their full glory in spring. Ivankov would sometimes take him on short voyages, but they somehow never encountered lasting snow, and before he knew it, the two years were up.

And once again, the weather changes on the Grand Line didn't face Sanji at all, and he was beginning to think that he might have either forgotten what he was afraid of, or maybe even gotten over it. Even when they reached an island half covered in snow and ice, Sanji didn't feel the cold. All that mattered was his crew, and when Nami and Chopper wanted to save those children Sanji trotted through the deep snow without a second thought. And when the Samurai wanted to find his child, Sanji dove into the icy lake with only his target in mind. And as Luffy entered in an alliance with the shadiest pirate Sanji had encountered, Sanji accepted it, because even with all this, Sanji didn't see a reason to be afraid. The strawhats always came out on top even in the face of the worst odds.

So when Sanji's hands started feeling numb, his throat got tight making it hard to breathe and his body felt cold, he was surprised. Because the snow was made of cotton candy and the ice was nothing but vanilla frosting. It was all there, but it also wasn't. It was just an illusion, but it somehow felt so real. And Sanji slowly began feeling like a scared little kid again, wanting nothing more but to get away from his abusers who dared call themselves his family. His family was elsewhere, scattered around the globe; some in the East and others hopefully not as far away. So even if snow never fell on Whole Cake Island, Sanji felt like he was stuck in eternal winter.

When the island could no longer be seen, Sanji started breathing normally, and colours started to make themselves noticed. Sanji turned his back to the island that was no longer visible and looked at their jolly roger. If what he had just endured was his winter, then this flag was his summer. It was the warm feeling in his body, his guiding light and bright colours.

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked as he suddenly approached Sanji. He was smiling, though it wasn't that bright, ridiculous smile he usually wore. It was a sweet, reassuring smile. A smile that soon spread to Sanji's lips, if only not as genuine.

"I will be," he answered honestly. There was still the pressing fear in the back of his mind, like he wasn't fully believing that he had been granted a second chance at freedom.

"That's good," Luffy said and his smile wavered a little before returning a little brighter, "It was hard to see you not smiling."

Sanji let that sink in for a moment before smiling back at his captain, "I'm sorry for all the trouble," he tried to make the statement light and seem like a joke, but Sanji meant every word. Of course, his captain saw right through him, and moved a little closer.

"When you're fine again, give this back," he said and placed the strawhat on Sanji's head. And with that small gesture, Sanji was fine, though he didn't want to give the hat back already. He looked at his Captain's sweet smile and felt tears prickling in his eyes, as he nodded and smiled. And this time, he smiled from the bottom of his heart. So when the first snowflake fell and melted on Luffy's cheek, Sanji was fine. And for the first time, Sanji embraced the snow and everything that came with it.

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 **Since I had so many notes in the beginning, I'll just leave this here. This chapter fulfills two requests; one by Makogirl14 who wanted _A Sanji and Luffy moment after the tea party_ and one by manna win-chest-er which was _Luffy gives Sanji his hat._ I've done both of them in previous chapters, and I know I'll do more of the first request because I have a pretty cool scene in mind, but just in case you thought I had forgotten about you, you can take credit for some of the things in this chapter :D**


	45. Not So Ordinary After All (pt2)

**So either the word _deadline_ has lost all meaning to me, or I just think that Sunday and Tuesday are the same thing... Still dealing with a writer's block, but I'm going on a short holiday tomorrow (which is the real reason I choose the beginning of the months for my breaks), and that usually gives me loads of inspiration to write... usually**

 **Story set: Timeless (but probably spoils stuff from Whole Cake Island?)**

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Not so ordinary after all pt. 2

Sanji was lying on his back, panting hard. He was completely exhausted and he honestly did not want to move away from this very comfortable spot on deck. He could hear the heavy breathings of both Luffy and Zoro somewhere not too far away. He was sure the others were exhausted as well, but they were all a little further away, scattered around the ship. This had been the third marine attack that day, and it was beginning to have an effect.

To make it short: Sanji had fucked up. And he totally blamed Zoro. However irrational it might seem, he blamed Zoro. He blamed Zoro for having randomly appeared and disturbed his thought process that night. Sanji never made mistakes, if he did there would be no point in his solo-missions, but this time he had made a mistake... all because of that stupid swordsman. He hoped Zoro knew that he was to blame, but the idiot had no brain and probably hadn't even put two and two together.

Basically, after having beaten up the people in the warehouse, Sanji (and Zoro) had _not_ destroyed evidence that they had been there nor made sure that they could no longer be followed. Sanji was sure that the group they had beat up had pleaded with whoever government officials had come for them and then given them the necessary means to track strawhat Luffy.

However strong the strawhats were, there really was a limit to how many attacks they could take in a row, and, as unfortunate as it was, they couldn't keep using _coup de burst_ to get away. They simply didn't have the fuels. So now they had to live with high level battles multiple times a day.

When the first attack had occurred, Sanji hadn't thought twice about it. They were pirates. Marine attacks were kind of an occupational hazard. The second time Sanji simply assumed that the team from earlier had given the information of their whereabouts to every marine base in the area. However, when they after the second attack had changed their course and got attacked again, Sanji suspected that something was up. The next day had been the same; three consecutive marine attacks, which no amount of zig-zag-not-following-the-log-pose sailing could stop. It was getting tiring to say the least.

Now they were on their fourth day, and Sanji was at a loss for what to do. Sanji was certain that if they could hold the marines off for long enough then the tracking on Luffy would wear off, but they might just lose a fight before that happened. Sanji had half expected that the effect would wear off after three days, but it hadn't, so now he was gunning for five days, which meant that, hopefully, this whole ordeal would be over soon.

He had proof that this was the case as well. The first three days the marines had attacked three times a day. Morning, noon and evening, but today, on the fourth day and the fifth day of the magical tracking, the marines had attacked three times when noon arrived. Sanji could tell. They were getting desperate. If today truly was their last chance then they only had a few more hours to work with, and ever since Sanji had started putting things together he had made sure to deal a lot of damage to their ships in order to keep the marines from following them. But that didn't really make this any easier.

Sanji slowly gathered the energy to sit up and looked around. He had the perfect meal in mind to help a weakened crew, but he honestly didn't have the energy to start that big of a project... but he forced himself to do it anyway. They needed to be prepared for the next attack which Sanji predicted would come within two hours...

And sure enough, two hours and a refreshing meal later, the Sunny was once again a battlefield. Usopp, Franky and Brook were taking care of the surrounding ships, while the rest of the strawhats fought to keep the marines from killing or taking anyone. In a messy situation like this, Sanji trusted his friends to take care of themselves... or scream if they needed help, and focused on his own opponents. There were very few marines who could stand up to Sanji for more than ten seconds, but they had numbers to their advantage, while the strawhats were dealing with complete exhaustion. And while this group of marines seemed a little on the weak side, Sanji quickly noticed something.

Generally when a big group of marines came for them, it seemed that they randomly charged at them with large numbers, while some of the stronger marines would take on Luffy and Zoro. This usually gave Sanji a lot of leeway as he was always completely underestimated, but this batch of marines were completely different. The strategy for dealing with Luffy seemed to be mostly the same. There were about three people surrounding him, all of whom seemed to be just at the weaker end of vice-admiral level. Normally, this shouldn't face Luffy, but Sanji had noticed that Luffy had tried very hard to take on more and more enemies over the last few days to allow the rest of the crew to relax, if just a little bit. So while Luffy still stood the strongest, he was also the one suffering from these attacks the most. Still, Sanji was sure he'd do fine, and if he needed it, Zoro was not even three metres away from his captain... Though it seemed that the swordsman was struggling more with his opponents than Luffy was with his... which was somewhat irregular.

While Luffy always dealt with the stronger enemies, Zoro always seemed to struggle just a little less than their lovable captain, but Sanji could understand what was causing the swordsman trouble. Zoro, more often than not, fought fellow swordsmen, who were often powered up by a weird devil fruit. And for Zoro who was aiming to become the best swordsman in the world, these people rarely posed too much of a challenge because of his experience and power. But this time Zoro was not fighting swordsmen or even weapon users. His opponents seemed to be mostly quick, martial artists, which really was what Zoro struggled with the most.

Sanji himself was now the one dealing with the swordsmen, which just so happened to be his achilles heel. All of Sanji's long ranged attacks involved fire, and on the Sunny he could not use those techniques, which meant he had to get close to his opponents to deal any sort of damage... but swordsmen were hard to get close to, especially the good ones. The only saving grace which both Zoro and Sanji benefited from was their regular fights. While their arguments and stupid fights didn't have much merit because their attacks had no thoughts behind them, they did have one daily sparring session which allowed them to deal with their respective weaknesses.

However, with fatigue peaking and having multiple swordsmen constantly attacking him, Sanji kind of wished he could switch positions with Zoro... but that was a stupid thought, and Sanji knew he had to deal with these people no matter what.

And so, putting his trust in his friends, Sanji stopped paying attention to anything but his enemies, and in a state of complete concentration, a flip in Sanji was flipped. As if eight years of suppressed training was suddenly remembered, Sanji's moves changed. He could put himself in the body of these swordsmen, predict their moves based on the sword they used, the power they had, the quality of their footwork, and Sanji's own habits and fighting capabilities. He wouldn't touch a sword, but he could vividly remember how it felt to wield the weapon. Sometimes it wasn't even that different to using kitchen knives, but he couldn't let similarities distract him.

Sanji moved swiftly among his enemies, dodging and attacking with a new found finesse. He wasn't even completely sure what he was doing, it was like he was in some sort of trance. But it worked. Once the last marine fell to his knees and lost consciousness, Sanji slowly pulled himself back to reality and glanced in the direction of Luffy and Zoro. Both seemed to have wrapped up their fights pretty easily, but Zoro was the one who caught his attention. From his glare, Sanji knew he'd been watching him for a while, but it was the little knowing smile and cocky head lift which pissed Sanji off the most. He didn't even know what the hell Zoro was thinking anymore, but it annoyed Sanji to no end and he kicked a downed marine out of frustration.

And then Zoro laughed again. It wasn't as much as the night after their little mission, but just as back then, Zoro seemed genuinely amused by something which Sanji definitely did not understand. Sanji mumbled something about making food to no one and angrily left for the kitchen. The others would clean up the mess, and he'd have a meal ready for them when they were done.

Sanji entered the kitchen, put on his apron, found the ingredients and picked up his favourite kitchen knife. For a second a chill went down his spine, but he shrugged it off an began cooking.

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 **This was actually super hard to write because 1) goddamn writer's block and 2) I had this chapter imagined completely from Zoro's pov because of the side chapter... though that means that this chapter will actually make more sense with that story (whenever I decide to write that(hopefully before 2017))**

 **Either way, I hope you all have a nice day :D**


	46. Two Times Lucky

**So I realized that I kind of forgot to tell you guys that my exam period started (which is why there have been no chapters). Of course right now there is a holiday, but I'm basically going right back into that in the New Year so bear with the short hiatus for a just a little while longer. In the meantime, I wrote this little ficlet because I was feeling guilty for leaving you guys with no content for so long, but I actually really really like how it turned out, so it works.**

 **It contains spoilers if you're not caught up to chapter 850 (but then again you probably won't get the references if you're not caught up...)**

 **Story set: Whole Cake Island Arc**

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Two times lucky

Sanji believed in once-in-a-lifetime-moments. He believed that everything was possible, but the things that seemed the least so would only happen once in your life, and that's only if you were lucky. When Sanji met Zeff, who saved his life despite not knowing him and gave up everything for him, Sanji believed that he would never again meet a person as kind as the old geezer. So when Sanji met Luffy his world was flipped upside down.

Sure, Luffy was stubborn, didn't listen to reason and always chose the illogical option rather than the sound one, but he was incredible kind too. Kind and caring and all those things Sanji had never really believed that he deserved to be on the receiving end of. Yet, here he he was, being surrounded by people who loved him, and following a man who wanted nothing more than for the people who had his back to be the happiest they could be. And Sanji counted himself so lucky. Lucky to stand by his side and lucky to have pledged his life to such a kind hearted soul.

It was just a shame that he had to throw it all away. If given the choice, he would have stayed on the Sunny forever and always, but he had always kind of known that his life was too good to be true. And the thing is; Sanji isn't even that sad that he has to let go. He is allowed to save both his father and his captain, and in return he'll have to marry a cute girl, stay by her side and never see the people he once loved (the people he still loves so so dearly). But that's okay, because Sanji knows that he was happy, and knows that the people around he don't deserve to suffer with him, so he willingly lets go...

But they don't.

And Sanji doesn't quite understand. Sanji's life won't be absolutely miserable should he marry Pudding (or so he believes) and they have better things to do. Kaido is a pressing matter and knowing the swordsman right, he probably did not let their kind Captain forget what was at stake. Sanji had really hoped that Zoro had been ruthless and pressing enough to make their Captain choose the safer and more logical option just this one time (but Sanji doesn't get Zoro loves him too).

And Sanji makes deal after deal, trying to make sure they are all as safe as they possibly can be in this ruthless and unfair world, and still, when he looks at them, they are smiling. They are smiling and reaching out their hands for him to take, and oh how strong the temptation is. But he can't. They don't know what's at stake. They don't know the danger like Sanji does. The ruthlessness of northern blood, the threat hanging over his father's head like a knife on a thread, the merciless execution of those with more power than any person should ever wield. They don't know, and Sanji doesn't want them to know. He wants them to go on with their adventure and be as happy as they can, but they won't budge (Sanji just doesn't get that they can't be happy without him).

So when all is said and done. When the flames still haven't quite burned out, the sky is black with smoke and there is more blood than sugar covering the island, the hand is still there, waiting for him to take it. And so he does. And for the second time in his life, Sanji gives himself to the strawhat wearing pirate. But this time it's not until Sanji sees the end of his life, it's when he sees the end of their journey (and Sanji knows that he never will).

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 **I tried a slightly different style for this story as well, so let me know what you think of that... Anyway Happy New Years guys! I hope 2017 will be kind to you no matter how your 2016 was :D**


	47. What's Your Favourite Food?

***Sobbing* GUYS! I'm back from my exams! T.T I've missed this story a lot, but also feel a little rusty now, so I'll keep the stories a little simple for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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What's your favourite food?

 _Spicy Seafood Pasta_

When people ask Sanji what his favourite food is, he always answers: _Seafood pasta_. Sanji knows that what people want him to answer is what food he likes the best, but as a chef, he can't really choose. He continuously explores the culinary world and seeks new heights in his world of domain. He never settles for a favourite, because he knows he can push himself to make something better. But that doesn't mean that seafood pasta isn't special to Sanji, because it certainly is. It was the first dish Sanji made that Zeff put on their menu, and unless the old Geezer has changed anything, it's still available for costumers to choose. Of course, Sanji did improve the dish over the years, but it's mostly still the same. Sanji remembers that the dish was popular with children.

Sanji remembers the first person who asked him. He was fifteen and the Baratie had gotten a batch of new chefs and waiters; all of them people who had been saved by Zeff and Sanji from a ship wreck. Within the next three months, none of them would be left, but for now, they were helping out at the floating restaurant. One of them, a twenty-something year old with a beard, came up to Sanji one day, complimented him for his skills despite being young and asked the question. Sanji had never really thought about having a favorite food at that point and had favoured saying seafood pasta over just staring dumbfounded at the guy. That night Sanji had wondered if it was normal to have a favourite dish, and figured that people probably had favourite everything, so why should food be the exception? But Sanji suddenly got curious, because what if he could figure out what kinds of food people preferred by asking them what they liked the best?

Over the next couple of years, Sanji always made sure to ask people what their favourite food was, and while the answered varied drastically and could definitely not be used for actually improving his own cooking, Sanji found that a person's favourite food usually said something about the person. Sometimes there would even be a story involved. Someone would say apple pie because it reminded them of home, another would say salmon dishes because that was the first fish they'd caught, while some would name the dish they'd first learned how to make. Sanji slowly learned that people opened up when food was involved.

When Sanji joined the strawhat crew, he learned that they were full of contradictions. They were kind, but dangerous. They had the worst luck, but were always lucky enough to never be lost. And they were open and had nothing to hide, yet none of them ever spoke a word about their past. Except when Sanji asked.

Sanji had never expected for anyone to open up, yet he wasn't surprised when any of them did. And they all did. Luffy who never spoke of the past and only of the present, Brook who never looked back because all he saw was the looming shadows of loneliness, Usopp who always told grand tales of adventures that had never happened, and even Zoro who rarely spoke a word to Sanji without shouting. They all shared when he asked.

It was always the same when Sanji asked. He'd be alone in the kitchen, preparing a meal or cleaning before going to bed. Someone would come in, tired after a long day or just not fully awake yet, and Sanji would have a cup of tea or coffee ready for them. He always had. And Sanji would ask. Casually, but intrigued: _what's your favourite food?_ And when Sanji was left alone in the kitchen again, he felt like he knew just a little more about his friend.

 _All kinds of Meat_

Luffy's answer was meat. Always predictable. But when Sanji asked why, he got the tale.

"When I was younger," Luffy had started, and Sanji had almost dropped a plate because that was not a sentence he'd ever expected to hear come from Luffy's mouth, and especially not in that musing tone, "I lived with a gang of mountain bandits," Sanji wanted Luffy to elaborate, but was afraid Luffy would forget what story he was telling him, so he kept that question for another day, "I was pretty much on my own in the beginning. I was allowed to live with them, but I had to provide my own food if I wanted anything but a single bowl of rice everyday.

"So I'd go hunting in the mountains. At first it was just me, after awhile Ace was there as well, and then Sabo. When I had been alone, all I could ever manage to catch were rabbits and squirrels, but when it was the three of us, we went after all the monsters that lived in the mountains. We almost died a couple of times," Luffy said that with a smile, and Sanji couldn't help but think that he'd never seen Luffy do anything so Luffy-like; smiling when recalling a near death experience, "When there was meat on the table it meant that it had been a good day, so I really started loving it," Luffy finished with a smile and Sanji knew that would be the last Luffy would say about his past... at least for now.

Nonetheless, Sanji now knew that he'd always make the best meat whenever they had something amazing to celebrate, or maybe just when the crew wasn't feeling their best. It would be sure to lighten Luffy's mood if he did that.

 _White Rice, Sea king Meat, and anything that complements Ale_

Zoro was a little more difficult to get to open up, but he got there eventually.

"Why do you want to know?" Zoro had scoffed, but he had not left the kitchen despite Sanji having provided his drink, and remained seated by the counter.

"I'm the chef," Sanji had retorted calmly, "Am I not supposed to know stuff like that?"

Zoro had rolled his eyes, but answered him either way.

"That's a little... boring..." Sanji said after awhile, trying to provoke Zoro into elaborating on his answer.

"When I left my dojo, I'd usually eat in some bar or I'd fine my own food. Rice is easily obtained and if you know what you're doing killing a sea king, especially in the East, is not really too hard. I guess it just became a habit, but I quite liked it. It was a good routine." At that point Zoro seemed annoyed that he'd just told Sanji all that and promptly left the kitchen after downing his tea. Sanji smiled to himself when he'd left. The swordsman was a lot softer than he tried to make it look like.

 _Mainly tangerines as well as other kinds of fruit_

Sanji felt like he already knew Nami's favourite before he even asked her. Nojiko had told them (Sanji, Usopp and a sleeping Zoro) about their past, so Nami's answer came as no surprise.

"Predictable, am I not?" Nami said and looked slightly sad for a short while as she gripped the cup in front of her. But when she looked back up at Sanji she smiled brightly, "We were always poor and could hardly afford meat, but the villagers always gave us fresh fruit. Of course, we had the tangerines, but we couldn't live on that alone and we were supposed to sell them, not eat them. Sometimes, when Nojiko and I went out to sell the tangerines, we would come back with more fruit than money," she laughed at the memory. Sanji smiled sweetly at her and started slicing up the fresh fruit he'd use for today's dessert.

 _Pike from an autumn island as well as other Fish from the season, hates Mushrooms._

Sanji figured that Usopp would tell some grand tale explaining his quite specific answer, but he didn't.

"There wasn't much to do in my village, especially when I was younger. I was a bit of an outcast, so I would usually spend time in the forest or by the seashore waiting for my dad to return. The villagers were kind enough to give me food, but I always hated relying on them, so I started trying to find food for myself. I made my own fishing rod and experimented with bait, and while it didn't always go as planned, I quite often found myself with more fish than I could eat. Especially in autumn.

"So I'd trade with the villagers. I gave them fish and they gave me all their stupid gadgets which they found useless, but I didn't. However, fish aren't always easy to catch, so sometimes I'd have nothing to eat but mushrooms – they grew all year round after all – but it got really tiring after awhile, so I try to stay away from it as much as possible." Usopp sighed and took a sip of his morning coffee. "Autumn fish was always a luxury and people were willing to pay a lot for them, but they tasted so good that sometimes I just kept them for myself," he smiled at that.

Sanji slightly wished the next island would be an autumn one. He was sure he could cook pike to perfection.

 _Cotton Candy, Chocolate, and other Sweet foods and drinks_

Chopper's answer was so known that it was even on his bounty poster, yet Sanji was quite curious as to why a doctor would have sweets as their favourite food.

"I had always just eaten what I could find... Berries, nuts, that sort of thing, so when Dr. Hiluruk took me to the village for the first time, I was amazed by all the different kinds of food. We took a sweets stall in exchange for medicine and I remember that I thought it was the best day in my life. I always thought of sweets as something special since we didn't go to the village to often and we always needed something more than we needed sweets, but Dr. Hiluruk would sometimes take a little chocolate for me when he could," Chopper put down his now empty cup of hot cocoa.

"Of course, Doctorine didn't allow too many sweets, but she always got me some for my birthday. And we'd go down to the village and watch the Christmas lights together..." He trailed off, lost in the memory.

Sanji gave him a refill and topped the warm drink with whipped cream and marshmallows.

 _Sandwiches, Cakes that aren't too sweet, and food that complements Coffee_

"Is there always a story behind the answer?" Robin asked after she had taken a slow sip of her hot coffee.

"Yes," Sanji answered and poured a cup for himself. It was very early in the morning after all, "Always."

"I guess I have different reason for all of them," she almost asked herself and put a finger to her chin as if she was in deep thought. Sanji knew she was just teasing him.

"When I lived with my aunt, I was mostly just allowed to eat leftovers, but sometimes they allowed me to make a sandwich. It was the only time I could take as much food as I wanted and eat exactly what I wanted. One time I made a sandwich with only cheese and tomatoes. It wasn't very good, but it felt like I was breaking some secret rule, and I guess that was kind of exciting."

She looked at Sanji as if he could understand what she meant. He did. He had done the same thing, but with eggplants instead of tomatoes. It really hadn't been very good.

"Cakes were like a luxury," Sanji had heard this phrase a couple of times now, both from his crew mates and fellow chefs on the Baratie, "but I was never a fan of sweet stuff. I really liked the cakes with fruit in them.

"Coffee has always been a special friend I guess," Robin said and allowed Sanji to give her another cup, "Sometimes I'd go days without sleep. Either I was on the run and couldn't afford sleep, or I was studying... though I guess I still do that," she chuckled, "So it was always nice to have some food that complemented the drink that kept me awake." She smiled at him, already halfway through her second cup.

The topic changed to the book she was currently reading.

 _Hamburgers, French Fries, and that complements Cola_

"It was the celebration meal," Franky explained downing his cola in one swift movement, "It was always Kokoro who cooked for us, but honestly she wasn't as good as she thought. So Tom-san always took us to this burger place when he wanted to celebrate something. It didn't even matter what it was; Birthdays, New Years, sometimes just a good day, it didn't really matter. Sometimes, if the mood was sour, he'd invent some sort of holiday and we'd go out."

Franky opened his next bottle before he continued: "Iceburg and I never fought when we went out. We didn't want to get a restraint, you know? We both liked the place a lot, so we were always really nice. Often we'd forget that we were even fighting... Those were the times~" Franky sang.

"Eventually the place closed because of the Aqua Laguna, so we tried to recreate the recipes. Sometimes we were up until morning trying to get the different parts right, but we never really got it... I bet you could do it though. In fact, your burgers are probably better than the ones from the diner."

"I'll take that as a huge compliment," Sanji smiled and with that decided what to make for dinner.

 _Tea and Takoyaki_

"We always had a lot of tea," Brook explained, "We were musicians after all, and tea is soothing, so we had a lot. We treasured tea more than actual treasure, yohoho~" Brook laughed, "So even in fifty years I never ran out of tea. You would think I'd grow tired of it, but I never did. It was just... soothing," he finished.

"And takoyaki?" Sanji asked.

"Don't you remember Sanji-san?" Brook tilted his head, but Sanji remained silent, "It was the first meal I had on this ship. It was heavenly!" Brook exclaimed, "Of course, Sanji-san, nothing is better than your food, but I hadn't eaten in _decades!_ And it was so delicious. Nothing will ever compare, yohoho~"

"I'm glad you appreciated it," Sanji chuckled, remembering the day quite clearly now, "Usopp nearly drowned getting his hands on those octopi."

"Oh my!" Brook gasped and took a sip of his tea to calm himself down and asked for the rest of that story. Sanji was happy to retell it.

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 **This was based on the SBS about the strawhats favourite foods. Honestly I could write a story for each SBS, they are so much fun. Please fave if you enjoyed, follow for more and leave a cheeky review with your thoughts :D**

 **Also, feel free to leave your favourite food, and if you have a story feel free to share :D In case you were wondering, my favourite is sushi for a bunch of reasons, some of which I used in this story. It's what I eat when I celebrate stuff, and since my mom grew up in a small fishing town, it's probably genetic :P And I have to do my Asian blood justice and love rice of course :D**


	48. Compliments

**Hello~ I am back from the dead! No, I actually went to Japan (it was AWESOME), sorry for not warning you.**

 **Quick update. I'm going to move updates to every other Wednesday. Some of you might notice that I have quite a few stories on hiatus at the moment, and I really want to finish them, but time only allows me a little writing. So I decided to put this story on less, but still regular updates, and then finish the other stories in the extra time I get. Hopefully it works out.**

 **Two messages:**

 **To guest reviewer dandan: You requested a chapter where Luffy gives his hat to Sanji. I already did this twice in chapters "Where the Heart Lies" and "First Snow", though you might find it happening again *winkwink***

 **To Mesonoxian: Thanks for all your lovely reviews! They really made my day. I would have loved to respond you, but you have your PM disabled, so now you get a public shout out!**

 **Story set: Whole Cake Island (Chapter 856 specifically) and Aftermath**

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Compliments

Luffy always gave out compliments left and right. Actually, Sanji was sure that half of the words out of his mouth was some sort of compliment. Some were easy to catch like: "Sanji makes the best food in the world!" whenever he invited yet another guest onto the Sunny. Some where used to prove other people wrong like saying: "I think this soup is delicious," when everyone else said it was disgusting. And some, and Sanji had noticed that there were a lot of these, were making a point like when Luffy said: "You put all our favorite foods in here!". Sanji both hated and loved the compliments.

Right now was one of the times where he hated it. He wish he'd never heard the words come out Luffy's mouth, he wished that he could erase the memory of the compliment or maybe even the compliment itself. Because he knew exactly what Luffy was doing. Sanji knew that he was fighting a losing battle, he'd known he had lost the moment Luffy had started eating. Luffy knew it too. That was the point of the compliment.

Sanji rejected it by claiming Luffy was lying. It was easier that way. Of course, he knew Luffy didn't have it in him to lie, least of all to Sanji, so he settled for turning his back to him. It would be too hard to look at him. And Sanji knew resistance was futile, but he tried his best anyway, even if his best were three bullshit excuses he knew were worth nothing.

He told Luffy he disrespected him, dishonoured him, but he knew that if apologized it'd be fine. It was like with Usopp. His actions hadn't been acceptable, but as long as he wound up being the one to ask for forgiveness, it'd be fine. Luffy wasn't going to make the mistake he did with Usopp, but he did help Sanji all he could. So instead of saying it didn't matter, he just looked like the fight they'd had was the least of their problems.

He told Luffy that Zeff was in danger. Had this been only hours ago this statement had more to offer, but he already knew that there was a bigger chance of Zeff being struck by a meteor. Reiju had told him as much and considering what Big Mom was planning, it seemed the logical conclusion. So while the threat might have been the thing that could have made Luffy hesitate, both of them were aware of the weak push from Sanji.

He told Luffy that the Vinsmokes were being framed, and he told them that he didn't want them to die, even if he hated them all. This was the truth, but he also knew the all he had to do was ask for help and he'd get it. Saving the Vinsmokes and saving Sanji weren't exclusives. Both could be done... but Sanji. He didn't feel like he deserved to be saved. He knew Luffy would do it, but he couldn't find it in himself to voice his own desires. It felt selfish and he didn't deserve selfish. Not now, not ever. He pretty much told Luffy as much when tried to make him leave for the last time.

He hadn't exactly expected Luffy to punch him in the face. And the funny thing? Sanji didn't even feel pain (despite being all swollen under that weird mask of his), he just felt nostalgic. He vaguely remembered getting slapped across the face another time he'd refuse to act selfish. He wasn't entirely sure what had been said at that time, but that might have been because of Luffy's words ringing so clearly in the air around them:

"Tell me the truth."

There were so many things Sanji could escape at that moment. The cold of the rain, his wet clothes clinging uncomfortably to his bruised skin, the sting on his left cheek, the sound of water droplets landing on metal armour all around him, hell, even his own strained breathing, but not those eyes. Those big dark eyes staring down at him with an intensity that told him that if the next words out of his mouth wasn't his own wish, he'd definitely regret it. Sanji wasn't even sure what Luffy would do to him. Punch him again maybe? No, that didn't seem likely. Disown him and tell him that he'd changed his mind and would leave without him after all? Definitely not. Kill him? A laughable notion really.

No. Sanji had a weird feeling that Luffy would do something much more destructive. This island seemed to be the cause of a lot of shit. Maybe he would burn it to the ground. For some reason, Sanji didn't think that too far-fetched.

So Sanji wondered what he should say. For a brief second, he contemplated lying again. Making up something about wanting to get married, but even if was the best liar in the world, Luffy would see through any lie he'd tell here. Why? Sanji, again, wasn't entirely sure. Maybe because Luffy was smart, or because he knew Sanji better than any of them knew the kitchen of the Sunny. Or maybe because, deep down, Sanji didn't want to lie. Maybe he wanted to be saved after all. And so he thought, if he was saved, if he was finally free to do what he wanted, what would he do? The answer was simple really. The image was there every time he closed his eyes, and they were here now, even with his eyes open. Because Luffy was right in front of him, not allowing Sanji to look away from him.

It was funny really. How tears felt so different from rain. Like they carried all of Sanji's emotions and once they started leaking, trailing down his cheeks, his emotions seemed to flow as well. For a moment, he was sacred that the lump in his throat wouldn't even allow him to speak, but, surprisingly, the words came easy. Like he'd been waiting to say them for a long long time.

"I wanna..." When had he last started a sentence like that? He wouldn't be able to tell you. In fact, Sanji was sure he'd never used those words in a genuine context. He'd always used the words to help someone else then himself: ' _I want a lock to the fridge'_ (We need to ration our food). ' _I wanna go to the market'_ (I heard they had the most exquisite meat. Luffy would love it). _'I wanna stay on fishman island for another week'_ (The New World is cruel and here were all together, safe and happy. Let's savour it for a while longer). _I wanna..._ "Go home to Sunny."

And that was it. That was what he wanted more than anything. He didn't need anything else in this world. He could live without women, without fine food and clothes, without ever finding the All Blue. What he wanted was to know that whenever he opened his eyes he'd find himself in a familiar surrounding, and he'd feel like he belonged. He wanted to go home to where a stupid swordsman would yell insults and whisper respect. He wanted to go home to where tangerines were always fresh and long ginger hair waved in the wind and predicted the unpredictable. He wanted to go home to cold nights in the kitchen accompanied by warm drinks and unbelievable stories that kept them warm with laughter. He wanted to go home to enthusiastic talks about herbs and spices and a blue nose telling them all apart. He wanted to go home to late nights in the crow's nest with coffee, books and giggles. He wanted to go home to the smell of cola and fun inventions that lit up the day, sometimes quite literally. He wanted to go home to morning songs and evening lullabies.

He wanted to go home to compliments. Compliments on his good food and awesome kicks. Compliments on his creativity and his intelligence. Compliments that sometimes made him forget that he didn't deserve them. Compliments that made him feel like he did deserved them.

But Sanji was strangely aware that he didn't deserve them. Sometimes Luffy would give him the strength to believe that he did, but right now he didn't. Right now, Luffy was having the opposite effect. At this moment, Luffy had sacrificed too much for him for Sanji to be able to accept his strength. Through his tears, Sanji told him as much. He expected Luffy to be disappointed at seeing how weak he was, but as he looked up, he just saw that smile that he so desperately wanted to go home to.

"We're here for you," he said and Sanji came apart.

xoxo

They had been sailing for a couple of days. Whole Cake Island and Germa Kingdom were far behind them. Sanji knew this for sure, because he had watched as their silhouettes disappeared in the horizon. He was in the kitchen. He usually was. He had spend more time here than usually, but he still needed time to adjust. He knew he'd been forgiven long ago (deep down he knew there had been nothing to forgive), but he also knew that he had said close to nothing about anything.

They had been quick to pick up on the way his hands would shake at the mention of the Vinsmokes, but he hadn't given an explanation and they'd been respectful not to pry. He could see it in their eyes though. The way they looked like they wanted to comfort him, but was afraid that he'd run away. Sanji was afraid of that too. He'd always told himself that he didn't mention his past because it didn't matter, and maybe once that had been the truth, but now? Now that the past was practically the present, he wasn't so sure.

It wasn't that he was afraid to open up or be perceived as weak, no, he was far beyond that. It was the fear that old wounds would open. Fear that he'd go back to waking up after a nightmare, drenched in sweat, cheeks stained from crying and lungs gasping for air. Fear that he couldn't hold a knife without trembling. Fear that he'd find himself breaking down over nothing when they needed him to be strong. Fear that his shortcomings would show themselves. Fear that they'd gone through so much for him and in the end find out that he wasn't worth it.

His hands were trembling again, and Sanji reached for the cinnamon he kept close.

"I'm sorry," a voice said, and for a second Sanji thought he had been the one to say it, but it continued, "I thought I had saved you."

Luffy's hand reached for the cinnamon, and he gave it to Sanji, "Come sit with me?" He pleaded, and as if Sanji had answered, Luffy took his hand and guided him outside.

The sun was setting. Dinner needed to be ready within the hour, but it was okay. Sanji had time for Luffy. He always had. They went to the front of the ship and for a moment, Sanji thought Luffy was going to sit on the figurehead as he so often did. Instead he just sat down by the railing and, still holding his hand, Sanji sat with him.

It was still warm outside and Sanji's pink shirt allowed the cool breeze to caress his skin. He'd been wearing very casual clothes ever since he'd taken off and burnt the clothes given to him by the Vinsmokes. At some point he'd found that he didn't own much that wasn't formal wear and had started using Usopp's clothes. He wasn't there to complain anyway. But it was nice. Wearing something that smelled like home made gunpowder and exotic plants.

"Why did you apologize?" Sanji asked slowly. A gust of wind had Luffy holding onto his hat and when it was gone Sanji found the hat placed on his own head rather than his captain's. This was the third time he'd work the hat. The first had been when they'd been walking away from an island on fire. The second had been when the island was out of sight.

"You're a kind person," Luffy said, forcing another compliment on him, "Did you know that?"

Sanji remembered Reiju's words... _kinder than anyone..._ "I've been told," he answered.

"But you don't believe it," Luffy concluded. Sanji didn't know if he was right, "I've been trying to make you believe it."

"I don't understand," Sanji answered all too fast. Though the more the he thought about it, the more confused he got, so it didn't matter.

"You're a great cook," Luffy said and Sanji blinked, trying to follow the conversation, "The best cook in the world." Sanji blinked again and Luffy made a gesture, emphasizing _the world._

"You're a strong fighter," Luffy made a punching motion and clicked his tongue, "Worth a thousand men." He smiled at Sanji and let his fist fall again.

"You're smart," he said and brushed a lock of hair out of Sanji's face, "Able to outsmart all our enemies."

"You're kind," he took his hand again, "Kinder than anyone."

Luffy smiled: "Want me to continue or is that enough for today?"

"I don't understand," Sanji said again, this time on the verge of tears. He didn't know if he wanted to reject or accept the compliments.

A warmth suddenly surrounded him, and he found himself hugging back, not really wanting to let go.

"Can I ask you to do something for me?" Luffy whispered. If Sanji didn't know any better, he would think that Luffy was close to tears as well.

"Anything," Sanji breathed, _I'd do anything for you._

"Whenever you feel like you don't matter," Sanji felt something wet land on his shoulder, "I just want you to remember this:"

Sanji held his breath.

Luffy held him tight.

"I love you."

* * *

 **I'm not gonna lie, I cried so hard while writing the ending. And when I did my read through? I had to stop all the time because I couldn't read through my tears. Not sure why it hit me so hard, but I really like this chapter despite the cheese :P**


	49. The Difficult Subject of Chocolate Cake

**So I already messed up the schedule by not uploading last week, but I'll make it up for it by posting another one next week as well, so that should put us (me) back on track :)**

 **Also, I wanted to something nice and light to contrast all the angst that has been surrounding Sanji lately (though thankfully it's kind of more or less over...)**

 **Story set: Pre-series**

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The Difficult Subject of Chocolate Cakes

In the early days of the Baratie there could be days between each customer. The restaurant was not yet famous and sometimes people who happened to come by wouldn't even register that it was a restaurant at all. It seemed that Zeff and his little eggplant had the most customers when they once or twice in a month stopped at an island to restock. People began assuming that they weren't as much _a restaurant at sea_ but more _a travelling restaurant._ Kind of like a wandering circus.

Of course, the time without customers wasn't wasted. Zeff used all their spare time to teach Sanji everything he knew about cooking and his eggplant absorbed the knowledge like a dry sponge. Zeff also taught Sanji how to fight, the _proper_ way to fight. Sanji sometimes felt that he had to relearn everything he thought he knew about fighting, but unlike in his cooking lessons, Zeff was patient with Sanji. He rarely yelled when Sanji instinctively tried to defend with his arms, and he never _ever_ resorted to violence when teaching Sanji how to fight. Cooking lessons were different though. Sanji was certain that he'd been injured more trying to cook than trying to fight.

Today was a fighting day... or rather, fighting hour. Sanji had been working on his pastry and baking skills for the past month and he was currently waiting for his hopefully excellent chocolate cake to be baked to perfection. In the time Sanji had been working on the dough, Zeff had cleared the dining area and as soon as Sanji had put the cake in the oven, he'd started the combat lesson.

As Sanji was still _a small eggplant_ Zeff mostly taught him how to defend himself. It hadn't escaped Zeff that his student already had some prior experience with fighting and was rather capable of holding his own in a minor fight, but he was far away from being able to fight in a way that was proper for a chef. Zeff was currently teaching Sanji how to defend against a blow by using kicks as a way of defence.

"You're small so use the rotation to build momentum and speed," Zeff said as he caught Sanji's kick with his right hand. Sanji sometimes thought that Zeff the chef and Zeff the martial artist were two different people. Zeff the martial artist gave much better advice and was much nicer.

Sanji spun on one leg and kicked Zeff's hand again with the other. Another hand found itself on Sanji's back and urged him to straighten up.

"You'll hurt yourself if your form is off," Zeff said and Sanji repeated the motion, this time focusing on his stance.

"Now you're lacking power," Zeff explained patiently. Had this been a cooking lesson he would have thrown something after Sanji, but instead he just made a gesture, making Sanji repeat the move. Sanji found it hard to balance between rotating while still maintaining power and posture, but when the timer in the kitchen set off, Zeff reassured him that he had improved. Sanji smiled.

Sanji carefully took the cake out of the oven and while it cooled off he started working on the icing and decoration components. Sanji wanted to use the fresh strawberries they had acquired that same morning, but Zeff's request had been a chocolate cake that was very rich in chocolate, but not overwhelming. Sanji had originally thought that the task had been rather easy, but upon putting the recipe together he had quickly realized that it wasn't quite so. Not only did he need a balance of different types of chocolates without making the cake too heavy, he also needed a balance of sweetness. If he used to much sugar the cake could become borderline inedible, but if he used too little the bitterness of the dark chocolate would dominate the taste.

Sanji's answer to the cake problems would lie in the icing. As of now, the chocolate cake was very standard and not fit for a first class restaurant, but Sanji had a plan. The strawberries would add a layer of freshness and contrast with the softness of the cake. He'd add sea salt to the chocolate icing to contrast with the chocolate in the cake and then lastly sprinkle dark chocolate flakes over the cake to have a few bursts of bitterness to counter the sweet nature of the cake itself.

Sanji was quite proud of his solution, but was slightly unsure if it would work. Maybe he was too ambitious and having three components for the decorations would be too much? Sanji decided to try it anyway, because if it worked Zeff would definitely be proud of him.

Sanji had quickly found that he loved Zeff's compliments. He didn't give them often, but to a person like Sanji who had so rarely been complimented before, he treasured each compliment like a poor person would a diamond. And every time Zeff gave a compliment, Sanji knew it was well earned.

Zeff was sat on a stool not far from where Sanji was working. Observing and judging his every move. Under his gaze and slightly exhausted after a late night work out, Sanji worked slowly, but it seemed that Zeff was ready to let it slide just this once.

As Sanji put the finishing touches on the cake he could feel that bubbly sensation in his stomach. He was proud of this cake. The icing had the right texture and tasted delightful with the strawberries. The strawberries were evenly spaced out on the cake and the chocolate sprinkles looked liked they'd been placed at random, yet not quite. Basically, it looked amazing and Sanji was sure that each component tasted great as well. The only thing left was to hope it all worked well together.

"Done!" Sanji exclaimed proudly and Zeff was immediately next to him, examining the cake.

"Well, if it tastes as good as it looks, we may be able to put this on our menu," Zeff said and smiled down at Sanji.

Sanji cut them a slice each and the taste test began. Upon taking his first bite, Sanji knew he'd made something great. He looked to Zeff and saw his teacher smile at him. Words were not needed. Sanji had made something wonderful and that was all there was to it. Sanji was proud and happy.

Zeff helped Sanji clean up the kitchen and before letting him go to bed, he had him try the kick again. Sanji had still not figured out how to make that work. Every time he got the stance right, he lacked power, and if he tried to maintain his posture he couldn't build up momentum in the rotation. Sanji had asked Zeff to show him how to do it, and was slightly annoyed that even when Zeff kicked with his wooden leg, he made it look effortless.

"I won't sleep until I got it down," Sanji panted and Zeff raised an eyebrow. Sanji was usually not the most enthusiastic person when it came to combat training, and only ever pulled all nighters (which always resulted in an afternoon nap, because small eggplants need sleep to grow big and strong) when he wanted to perfect a recipe or cooking technique.

"Well," Zeff sighed (he had always been bad at telling Sanji off when he got particularly determined), "We're leaving the island tomorrow morning, so don't overdo it."

He patted Sanji on the head and went towards his cabin, "Concentrate on keeping your form so that you don't hurt yourself," was the last thing he said before Sanji was left alone in the dining area.

Sanji tried repeating the kick for about half an hour (using a cushioned chair as target), but he just couldn't do it. Eventually he had gotten particularly frustrated and put so much force into the kick that he had fallen flat on his butt due to not being able to keep his balance.

At some point, and Sanji was suspecting this was due to lack of sleep, he began seeing the problem less as a matter of fighting stances and such, and more like a chocolate cake. There were many components that needed to work together for the cake to be complete and it was really no different than doing this one move. Later Sanji would not be able to explain how cake and kicks were alike, but at the time it made sense.

Zeff had given Sanji two tasks; make a chocolate cake and perfect a kick that drew power from rotation, but kept his body steady to avoid straining his muscles. The chocolate cake problem had been solved by adding a number of components to the main base. If the kick itself, Sanji thought profoundly, was the main base, then the rotation and the stance were the added components. But, Sanji realized in his frenzied mind of kicks and cakes, the chocolate cake had had three components added on top, while the kick, as of now, only had two. Which meant that logically, Sanji was missing an element. If the rotation was the sea salt chocolate icing that gave the cake an edge, and the stance was the dark chocolate which became part of the foundation, then what was strawberry?

Strawberries had been the non-chocolate thing in the chocolate cake. The one thing Zeff had _not_ requested for, but had been delighted with when Sanji had added them. So perhaps, _perhaps,_ Sanji needed to do something different from Zeff. Maybe he needed to add another component that was non-chocolate flavoured.

Sanji was so amazed with his own idea that he spent a good minute just laughing and grinning maniacally in the dining area before he started setting his plan in motion. When Zeff would later ask him about this, he would once again blame it on lack of sleep.

It took Sanji a good number of ideas to find the right thing he needed to add to the move to perfect it. He had tried moving his arms during rotation to add speed while keeping the stance and he had tried changing the stance, but he found that what worked was adding a jump. Adding a jump forced Sanji's body to keep the stance, because if he didn't he would trip. It also added a layer of speed and made the kick more powerful. Sanji started the stance on his left foot, while keeping his right leg straight in front of him. He would then jump to stand on his right foot and use the rotation created by the shift to kick with his left leg. It was brilliant.

When Zeff got up the next morning Sanji eagerly told him that all he had needed to make the kick work was to add strawberries and Zeff just looked perplexed. When his little eggplant didn't elaborate but just showed him the improved jump kick, Zeff gave him a pat on his head and asked what he wanted for breakfast.

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 **So I was like: "what messed up shit goes through a child's mind" and then this kind of happened. I hope it was sweet... like a chocolate cake :P**


	50. not one of them

**So let's all just agree that I should never promise to update soon ever again. Also, it's been awhile since I've written for One Piece, so bear with me while I get back into it**

 **Story set: Pre-Whole Cake Island**

* * *

Sanji absolutely loves having a musician on the crew. He thinks he loves it even more than Luffy, and people may or may not have gotten tired of hearing Sanji say how much he appreciates Brook. He almost feels bad for not wanting Brook to join them in the first place, thinking he was actually an evil spirit, but that's all in the past. Now, when Sanji gets up to make breakfast, he can listen to the soothing tunes of Brook's violin instead of the silence of the early mornings.

Brook is slowly getting settled on the Sunny as well, and it won't be long until he too can work with them in perfect harmony. Brook has the same light and joy around him that Luffy has, but also has the experience and wisdom of someone who is much older than anyone here. He's a perfect addition to their crew, and Sanji has told him that so many times, that Brook might be starting to think he's lying. It doesn't matter though, because Sanji is telling the truth. He really appreciates Brook, and even though their new musician did spend fifty years on an abandoned ship, he still has stories from the first decades of his life, which Sanji always eagerly listens to, when Brook comes to get his afternoon tea. They will often by joined by Luffy, Usopp and Chopper who also want to hear the tales of Brook's old pirate crew and their many adventures across the seas.

It is also not uncommon for Brook to share stories over dinner, and tonight is one of those nights.

"We were outnumbered, three to one," Brook says dramatically, "There was no escape, we had no choice but to fight."

The crew is silent, eagerly awaiting the next part of the story.

"We took our stand, and charged directly towards the enemy. I knew we couldn't win the fight, but perhaps, if we took out their leader, they would surrender. So I fought my way to their captain, and challenged him to a dual that would decide the outcome of the war.

He was big. As big as a mountain, and he laughed right in my face as he towered over me, but with my trusty sword in hand, I knew I could win. He reached for his spear and attacked me faster than I expected him to be able to. Men that big shouldn't move as fast as he did, but he did. I dodged and tried to attack, but to no vein. His offensive and defensive was beyond anything I had ever seen.

But then, a sign from the gods, a bolt of lightning struck the ship we fought on, it caught on fire and my opponent lost his balance. I was light on my feet and dealt the finishing blow before he knew what had happened. We won the battle."

"Wow~" Chopper exclaimed, "So cool!"

"I know!" Brook laughed, "It was as if we were protected by god himself."

"What happened to the guy? The big guy?" Luffy asked.

"He fled," Brook exclaimed, "And I never saw him again. He was a king, you know, a king of a once powerful nation. That family always had a horrible reputation, but it seems they have changed now."

"How do you know?" Robin asked curiously.

"Well, I met one of them! One of the nicest people I have ever met! Yohoho~" Brook laughed, "Although, that makes me curious, are the Vinsmokes no longer royals, since you're here with us, Sanji-san?"

The whole crew looked at Brook, confused and questioning: "What?"

"Sanji-san is a Vinsmoke, right?" Brook turned to Sanji, who immediately shot him down.

"No!" He protested, and all eyes turned to him, and he realized that he wasn't a good liar, "I mean… technically. But no, I am not!"

"But you have the traits," Brook said, "And Nami-san tells me you're from the North."

"Yes," Sanji replies, trying to explain without explaining. It's not like he has wanted to keep secrets, he had just wanted to forgot all about that part of his life, "But I'm not one of them."

"Wait, stop," Nami says, and Sanji thanks her mentally for saving him from the mess he has begun… or that Brook has begun. It might be better for Sanji to just blame Brook for all of this, "If that guy was a king, and Sanji's family or not family or what were, or are royals… this is confusing… does that mean that Sanji is a prince? Does that make you rich?"

Sanji sighs, "This is getting complicated… I suppose not, since the king disowned me… or did I disown him… my memory is fuzzy and I honestly don't want to remember."

"Okay," Luffy says plainly, interrupting Sanji's whirlwind of thoughts, "We won't talk about it. Thanks for the food." And with that the topic was closed and no one could say anything. Captain's orders after all.

Luffy volunteers to help Sanji with the dishes, and glares at anyone else who wanted to help, so the kitchen is left to just the two of them. At first, Sanji thinks Luffy is going to bring the topic up himself, but he realizes quickly that Luffy will only talk if Sanji wants to. After all, Luffy probably doesn't care about the past and is only offering his ear if Sanji wants or needs to talk. He's a good captain like that, and perhaps it would be best for Sanji to talk, but he honestly doesn't know where to begin.

"I'm not ashamed if that's what you think," Sanji begins, not knowing why Luffy would think that anyway, but he's not really thinking straight at the moment.

"I didn't think that," Luffy says, not giving any hint of what he _is_ thinking in his voice.

"I just don't want to be associated with those people, that's all," Sanji explains, but Luffy gives him a look. It's not exactly a stern look, it's softer, but Sanji can tell that Luffy sees right through him.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk right now… or at all, but if there is anything I should know," Luffy explains, and Sanji is sure that Luffy had been thinking about what exactly to say in this conversation. There is no way that he made that up on the spot.

Sanji sighs, "When it comes to our lives, I don't think that I can provide any information," Sanji says, trying to be professional about this, to distance himself a little bit, "I think they want to see me just as little as I want to see them."

"They hurt you," Luffy concludes, and Sanji doesn't know if he means physically or mentally, but he supposes that both assumptions would be right.

"Yes," he confirms, and Luffy merely nods.

They finish the dishes and Sanji thinks that Luffy won't say another word, but just as he leaves to let Sanji start his preparations for tomorrow's breakfast, he smiles at Sanji.

"It's okay," he says softly, "You're not one of them."

Luffy leaves the door open, so that Sanji can hear the soft tunes of Brook's violin. For some reason, his heart feels lighter.

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 **Come say hi to me on tumblr. I go by winglesscrows :)**


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